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CUBA AND THE WAR-REVENUE BILL. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. AMOS J. CUMMINGS, 






OK NEW YOKI-C, 



IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1898. 



WASHINQTON. 

1898. 



G,"007 



^ 



SPEECH 

OF 



V^* II OX. AMOS J. CUMMINGS. 



T>io H i„. i..in^r in Committee of th^ Whole Honse on the state of the 
Vni' I,' hikUt «-oiisi<leration the bill (H. R. H)WJ) to provide ways 

«u<l 1 t w:ir t'Xp'.'nditurcs— 

Mr. ( U.M.MlXGSftaia: 

Mr. CuAiKMAN: Wlienevev the safety of the nation is at stake 
or iiiiy f,Ttat national purpose is to be accomplishe;! by war, 
party lim-s should vanisli and politics be suspended. [Applause.] 
The war is on. and the people d<-mand that it shall be vigor- 
ously prosecuted in the interests of the country and without re- 
Knrd to party interests. It can not be prosecuted without the 
sinews of war. This bill is drawn to furnish the sinews of war. 
It is n war nioasure exclusively, and as such I shall consider it. 
It contains, it is truo, features which to mo are distasteful. I 
Jiffree witli theKentlt-nian frum Missouri [Mr. Bartuoldt] in ref- 
erence to tho tax on beer, and also with the gentleman from Ver- 
mont [Mr. (»u<»i-tJ as to the tax on mineral waters. 

The proposition to give the President power to issue bonds does 
not commend itself to everybody, but no war can be waged with- 
out mon(>y. I feel it to be my duty to vote for this bond propo- 
sition if all efforts to amend the bill fail. I shall vote for it all 
thti mure willingly because it is to be a popular loan. When 
opened, the subscription lists are to be sent to the post-ofHces 
throughout tlie country, and the honest farmers and mechanics 
afforded an opportunity to subscribe. 

A iiopular loan, when needed, strengthens the Government. It 
clinclies the affections and interests of the people and makes every 
fireside national. Such a loan stands in strong contrast with the 
b'.nd.s issued in isi);j, is;ii,and InO.I. when the country was at peace 
with all the world. The first issue was made by private contract, 
giving ft well-known syndicate a profit of nearly .sS, 000.000. 

The other issue invited public competition, but most of the 
bonds again fell into the hands of the old SA-ndicate, which gleaned 
Btill furtlier profits at the expense of the'taxpayers. If this pro- 
posed issue is not sanctioned by Congress, the President may be 
lorre<l to follow in the footsteps of the Cleveland Administration 
and impose upon the country a bond issue where syndicates may 
profiler at the expense of the people. Money must be had. and the 
proposed revenue bill, aside from the bond issue, will not bring in 
enough money to prosecute the war. Under the law as it now 
Btands the syndicates would reap large profits on any bond issue 
Mr. VIXCENT. They will do it any way. 
Mr. CUMMINGS. No, sir; the people will come in on the 
ground floor. And that is where they ought to come in. 

Now, Mr. Chairman. I shall do what can be done toward amend- 
ing the proposed bill. The gentleman from Missouri [Mr. BlandJ 
2 3543 



K 



,^ has a plan for the issue of Treasury notes, which possilily may be 
V^ feasible. Then there is an amendment proposinj^ an income tax. 
It appears to me to be nonsensical. You have an income-tax law 
already, on your statute book, but the Supreme Court has held it 
void. How are you going to better yourselves by reenacting the 
same law, so long as the Government is under the domination.,C)f 
that tribunal? It seems to mo that the proper way would be to 
bring in a constitutional amendment. If the State legislature- 
sanctioned it. you could then pass an income-tax law which would 
be beyond the reach of the Supreme C'onrt of the United States. 
You may be sure, Mr. Chairman, that — 

The mill will never grind with the water tluit has passed. 

The income-tax law to-day is a dead letter on the statute book. 
Give us something tangible, something substantial, something that 
will hold good after we have enacted it. An income tax, properly 
levied, would, in my opinion, be a most equitable tax, especially 
in time of war. But let us levj' it in a constitutional manner. 

Mr. McMILLIN. They have overridden the Constitution. 

Mr. RIDGELY. I will say to the gentleman froni New York 
f ISIr. CuMMiXGs] that I have an amendment to that effect before the 
constitutional committee. Will you help me to get it out? 

Mr. CLJMMINGS. I will, with pleasure. 

Mr. STEELE. It may not be his amendment. 

Mr. CUMMINGS. I will support it, if it is to be a constitu- 
tional measure. 

Mr. RIDGELY. It is. 

Mr. CL^MMLNGS (continuing). And I believe my constituents 
will support me in it, even if I do represent a district in New 
York City. [Laughter.] 

Now, Mr. Chairman, in the Spanish Cortes to-day they are hav- 
ing a similar contest to that in this House. Weyler and Robledo 
are opposing the Spanish budget in Madrid at this very hour. I 
do not know what others here will do, but, sir, I never will consent 
to put myself in a position where I can be compared with Weyler 
and Robledo. [Great applause.] As a Democrat, I stand by my 
principles. As an American, I stand by the nation. I believe it 
to be the duty of every Democrat, after having made the fight 
that his conscience directs toward reforming this measure, to 
turn in and vote to give the President of the United States the 
power to issue these bonds, if it be necessary, to carry on the 
war. In doing this they sustain the vote they gave in favor of ■ 
the war. In doing otherwise they stand on record as refusing to 
vote supplies to carry on the war which they have hailed with ao 
much eagerness. It does seem to me that if a President elected 
on a Democratic platform is allowed to issue $300,000,000 in 
bonds in time of peace, a President elected on a Republican plat- 
form might with perfect propriety be allowed to issue $:J0l),00O,003 
in time of war. [Applause.] 

What I desire, Mr. Chairman, and all I desire, is to give the 
Executive no excuse for not conducting the war vigorously and 
victoriously on the ground that Congre.ss has not upheld the 
President in his efforts. For one, I stand ready to vote all the 
supplies asked for, holding the Administration responsible for 
their proper expenditure. [Applause.] 

CUBA. 

Mr. Chairman, I take this opportunity to detail to the House 
the results of an investigation in March last as to the situation 
35ii 



in Cul>a. Ropoatedly liavo 1 sought the floor for this purpose, 
and repeatedly have I been denied. Under the terms of the spe- 
cial order governing this debate my opporti;nity has come, and I 
willingly avail myself of it. This investigation was made at the 
invitation of the'editor of the New York Journal. That news- 
paper had printed harrowing accounts of the sufferings of the 
recoiuentrados, accompanied by photographic illustrations. As 
doubts had been expressed concerning the accuracy of these re- 

Korts, the editor of the newspaper invited Senators Thurston, of 
I ebraska; Galmnoek. ef New Hampshire, and Money, ofMissis- 
sipni. and Representative William Alden Smith, of Michigan, 
and myself, to visit Cuba and personally view the situation. 

The three Senators have already embodied the result of their 
investigations in speeches made upon the floor of the Senate Cham- 
ber. No opportunity, however, has been afforded me to speak 
upon the matter in the House. All the details furnished by the 
Senators are correct. I wish also to add a tribute to Senator 
PitocTOR for his thorough description of what he witnessed in 
Cuba during the two weeks preceding the visit of his brother 
Senators. He went there of his own accord, determined to ascer- 
tain the truth by a personal investigation. His story speaks for 
itself. The facts detailed stand unchallenged, and can not be 
challenged by anyone in the least conversant with the situation. 

The man directly responsible for the rounding up and starving 
of thereconcentrados was General Weyler, late Captain-General of 
the island. He was once characterized on this floor by myself as 
"the Gila monster of Spanish tyranny, befouling with his breath 
the atmosphere of civilization." This characterization is said to 
have touched him to the quick. He based the effort to exterminate 
a whole people bj' starvation upon the ground of military necessity. 
War, he declared, recognized no principle of humanity. It was 
not ethical, but strictly practical. Gomez and Maceo had swept 
from the eastern to the western end of Cuba, destroying sugar 
plantations and reddening the sky with blazing cane fields. 
Wcj'ler retaliated in kind. 

The rural Cuban was the friend of the inurgents. It was from 
his little patches of tilled ground that the patriot drew his sup- 
plies. The insurgents were mounted upon horses raised in the 
rural districts and were fed upon native cattle. The entire rural 
population sympathized with the patriots. It kept them supplied 
with information as to the str-ength and movements of the Spanish 
forces, and saved Gomez and Maceo from many a carefully pre- 
pared trap. Of course, these Cubans were noncombatant. They 
were not wanted in the ranks of the patriot army, as there were 
neither guns nor ammunition for them. They served their coun- 
try best by remaining on their farms and raising yams and cattle. 
The revolutionar)' army was under strict discipline, and the agri- 
cultural population were free from marauders and predatory ex- 
cursions. 

Weyler was the first to recognize the fact that, while outwardly 
peaceful ,'xn<l loy.al, tlie peoi)le were the main reliance of the Cuban 
army. Their friends and relatives were in the ranks of the pa- 
triots, and. more than this, th<^y were as thoroughly imbued with 
a spirit of li berty as wore the "American farmers in the Revolution. " 
To use the words of a Spanish symjiathizer in Havana, "The entire 
jieoplo were at lu art insurrectionists, and the very grass under 
the feet of the Spaniards was insurgent" 

3&U 



TlIK i;! f,A[ OF WKVI.l-,lt> I'nl.icr. 

Weylers resolution, once formod, was carried out with mer- 
ciless severity. Martinez Cinipos had fou^lit several battles with 
the insurtients, but was unable to prevent tlie invasion of tho 
western lirovinees. Tliey contained the richest plantations in the 
islanil. IVIaceo and Goniez had maintained themselves in front 
of Havana for several months. Tho Spaniards themselves ac- 
knowled.i^ed that they mi.i,'lit have entered the city by a bold 
dash. Macao's friends say that he was fully aware of this fact, 
but that he preferred to obey the dictates of prudence and rema'n 
outside. 

Weyler's orders for the concentration of the rural population ia 
the ditrerent tt)wns were promptly carried out in Pinar del Rio. 
The Spaniards butchered ail the horses and cattle, destroyed every 
hamlet, and forced the noncombatant-i into the ditt'erent towns. 
The object was to render it impossible for Maceo's forces to obtain 
provender. In this Weyler was undoubtedly successful. Maceo'3 
troops suffered terribly for lack of supplies. Several battles were 
fought with varying success. The insurgent army practically 
went to pieces. It was not strong enough to recross the trocha, 
ami Maceo himself was finally killed while trying to reach Gomez 
with a few followers. 

Weyler regarded t)ie province as practically pacified. Meantime 
his edict had been carried into effect in Havana, Matanzas, Santa 
Clara, and Puerto Principe. Ditches were dug around the pens in 
various towns and barbed wire fences placed on the outer side of 
the ditches. The entire rural population was either butchered or 
driven witliin these ditches. No effort whatever to feed them waa 
made. Weylers friends declare that he meant to make provision 
for them, but that he was unable to do so. Meantime he concen- 
trated his strength and marched from Havana to the border of 
Puerto Principe in a vain effort to bringGomez toa decisive battle. 

That wary old campaigner kept out of his way. worrying him 
as Marion and Sumter worried Cornwallis and Tarleton. Weyler 
went back to Havana. Meantime the reconcentrados died by 
thousands of starvation. The provinces of Havana, Matanzas, 
Santa Clara, and a iiortion of Puerto Principe were practically 
as free from insurgents as was Pinar del Rio. The suffering in 
all these provinces was intense. 

Wevler began to gather himself for a supreme and final efifort 
to drive the patriots from Santiago de Cuba, in which province 
they maintained a well-drilled force under Calixto Garcia. He 
was on the point of making this demonstration when Canovaa 
was assassinated, and Weyler was ordered back to Spain, Blanco 
becoming his successor. 

Weyler's friends assert that if he had remained in office six 
weeks longer, Garcia's column would have broken and dispersed 
and Santiago wo ulil have become as free from insurrection as the 
other provinces. In other words, the insurgents would have 
dwindled into predatory bands, without organization and without 
an attempt to maintain an insurrectionary government. The 
Weylerites laugh at the effort of Sagasta and Blanco to organize 
an autonomic government. 

Certain it is that Weyler is a remarkable man. He was a mili- 
tary attache of Spain at Washington during the American civil 
war. He served with Sheridan in the valley, and had a great ad- 
miration for Sherman and Grant. He speaks English fluently, 
3C43 



6 

ninl on^ht to be thoronghly acquainted with the resources and 
disposition of the people of the United States. He is quick in 
motion, alert in mentality, decisive in action, and unrelenting in 
purpose. At a certain hour each day he would appear upon the 
I'rado in Havana in full uniform and march up and down the 
8(jnare fur thirty minutes, entirely unaccompanied. 

On assuming office he sent for the American newspaper corre- 
Bpomlents. He asked how many of them had seen service in the 
American war. There were some who had fought within the 
ranks of the Confederacy, and others who served in the Union 
army; others had followed their profession in both armies. Wey- 
ler told the latter that they hardly needed instructions as to the 
news which they would forward to their papers. Their experi- 
ence in the civil war had undoubtedly ripened their judgment, 
and they would send nothing that was improper or liable to be of 
service to the insurgents. As Captain-General . he had determined 
to do away with all censorship. As a republican, he believed in 
full liberty of the press. The correspondents were at liberty to 
Fend everything published in Havana and any other real news, 
but nothing alarmingly sensational, and nothing that they knew 
to be untrue. They should be cautious to give no news that would 
tend to disclose military plans or movements. 

"Your messages will go by cable," he said. "There will be no 
censorship; I shall never see them until they are printed. You 
can wire them in the English language. I want j'ou to under- 
stand that anything yon may send of an improper nature will re- 
flect on me both here and in Madrid, and 1 shali be held responsi- 
ble and be censured for removing the censorship." 

He told them that they were at liberty to come and see him at 
all times, and gave orders to admit them without formality and 
at all hours. Nothing, apparently, could be fairer, yet within a 
week the Captain-General received bitter complaints from the 
Spanish minister at Washington and from Madrid about the press 
telegrams. He was finally peremptorily ordered to restore the 
censorship. 

CHAnACTERISTICS OF GENERAL 'NVEYLER. 

Weyler's moods varied. At times he would invite a correspond- 
ent to sit down upon a sofa with him and enter into a free" con- 
versation. At others he would receive the correspondent while 
seated at his desk. Looking up, he would say, " Do you want to 
see me? Well, what is it? Speak! I am quite busy." 

He spoke English only when his adjutants were not present. 
He seemed to be apprehensive that it would create a suspicion 
within their minds if they heard him conversing in English with the 
correspondents. If a correspondent produced a clipping from a 
newspaper, Weyler invariably seized it and put it in his pocket. 
He patronized all the clipping bureaus in the United States, and 
had a score of scrapbooks. All clippings of denunciation against 
himself were underlined with red ink. They were placed in a 
separate scrapbook. All caricatures of himself and of the little 
King of Spain were put in a different volume. 

At times he was facetious. George Eugene Brvson , a well-known 

the 
rou 

kind as to have them brought to the gate where 1 can talk toThem "' 
"Wliy," replied Weyler, "don"t you know that there are no 

a543 




Aiiieiii-an prisonors in the Cabanas? Haven't you yot learned 
that I have fed them all to the sharks? '' 
••No.'" Brvson answered. " I hadn't learned it." 
"'Well," replied Weyler. "you don't read the New York Sun. 
Some davs aj?o one of the post-olfieo officials brou.ij;ht mo a letter 
addressed to Mr. God, managing editor of the New York Sun. [Tho 
managing editor's name was Mr. Lord. | It was a good, fat letter. 
I looked over it and found that two bodies of ])risoners had been 
picked up ott" Morro Castle with their arms and legs eaten otT by 
sharks. The correspondent further asserted that nearly all the 
prisoners in the Cabanas had been fed to sharks, and the sharks 
had got so fat they were hardly able to swim. 

'There was only one thing to do with such a letter as that," con- 
tinued Weyler. "'and that was to seal it up and forward it. It 
was a recognition of the confidence of the correspondent in the 
Spanish mail system. Other correspondents would have sent the 
letter to Kev West in a special dispatch boat. Well, the Sun 
printed it with a Haring caption. Tho only regret that I had 
about it was that mv friend Don Pancho.of the Associated Press, 
was beaten out of the news. But I gave Pancho a chance after- 
wards. On the following day I sent for him and gave nini a shark 
storv. 
'• > Have you heard what the sharks did to-day? ' I said to hira. 
" 'No,' he replied. 

" ' Well,' said I, ' this morning I sent a firing squad over to tho 
Cabanas to shoot two Cubans. ' The squad was headed off in tho 
bay bv two big sharks. One of the sharks jumped into the boat and 
drove the firing squad to the masthead, delaying the executiou 
until a new squad appeared.' " 

He actually forced Don Pancho to send this story to the Asso- 
ciated Press. '-And the next day," said Weyler. with a smile, 
'•Don Pancho received a dispatch from the New York agent ask- 
ing whether he was drunk or crazy." 

Some absurd stories threw the captain-general into an uncon- 
trollable rage. One day he read in an American newspaper a 
storv accusing him of wrapping the Stars and Stripes around an 
American prisoner and of then burning him alive. Weyler grit- 
ted his teeth, stamped his feet, worked his Austrian chin with 
anger, and said that if he could catch the correspondent who 
wrote the story he would wrap him in a Spanish flag, place a 
dynamite bomb beneath him, and blow him off the island. This 
was said in the censor's office while a score of correspondents 
were awaiting a revision of their dispatches. Next day two of 
these correspondents disappeared from the island. 

At another time, speaking of the attitude of the American press, 
he became sarcastic, saying that, notwithstanding their foul abuse 
of him, they were really his best friends and had been of great 
service to him. Spain was continually throbbing with indigna- 
tion over the invectives heaped upon him. Editorial comments 
upon his course, in American newspapers, were reproduced in tho 
Madrid press. They aroused Spanish patriotism and proved a 
great factor in the enlargement of his army. He wanted to thank 
the New York newspapers for adding at least 7.5,000 troops to tho 
Spanish army in Cuba. 

At one time, in apologizing for his alleged ferocity, he said ho 
was simply obeying the commands of the Canovas ministry. Ho 
alleged that the reconcentrado decree had been drawn at .Madrid 



8 

and not at the palace in Havana. He himself was the simple serv- 
ant of the home ministry, loyal to Spain aad determined that 
she should win, even if every man, woman, and child born on the 
Island of Cuba had to ba sacrificed. He would make the island 
a wilderness covered with ashes and bones if this would insure 
^■;cto^y. 

" What caro I." .said he. with a wave of the hand, "how great 
the sacrifice of life to crush out the spirit of rebellion? If I go 
back to Spain triumphant, no one will ever dare to ask for detailed 
accounts of the cost of victory." 

A TALK WITH CAI'TAIX-GE-VERAL BLAJfCO. 

On March 9 the Congressional visitors, accompanied by Consul- 
General Leo, jiaid a formal visit to Captain-General Blanco, The 
party took carriages and were driven to the palace of the Captain- 
General. It fronts an ex(iui.sit9 park in the center of the city. 
Like all such palaces, it has an inner court, with marble stairways 
on the right and left of the entrance. In the inner court stands a 
marble statue of Columbus. Spanish soldiers in neat uniforms 
guard the entrance. The party alighted from their carriages, and, 
headed by General Lee, mounted ithe stairway, where they were 
met by General Parrado, second to Blanco in command. They 
wei'e ushered into a reception room and invited to seats. The 
apartmont was richly furnished. 

General Parrado, through an interpreter, said that General 
Blanco was busy, but would receive his visitors in a few moments. 
The apartment fronted the park. Adjoining it was a second 
apartment resembling the governor "s room in the City Hall, New 
York. It contained painted portraits of the Captains-General of 
Cuba for more than a century. One of the party entered this 
room and was gazing at the paintings, when General Parrado 
took him by the arm and bagau to call his attention to the most 
distinguished of the group. 

" De Rodas? "' asked the visitor, pointing to a portrait. 

"Si," answered General Parrado. De Rodas, it will be remem- 
bered, was one of the Captains-General of the island during the 
ten-years war. The picture showed a clean-cut face, vnth a bald 
head, and an exquisitely fitting uniform. After gazing at it a 
minute or more, the visitor turned to General Parrado and said, 
"Show me Balmaseda, please." The General, using his index 
finger, pointed to a portrait on the left of De Rodas, saying " Bal- 
maseda." This Captain-General won a reputation in the ten-years 
war equal to that of Weyler in the present war. "Now show me 
Lersundi,'- said the visitor. With alacrity the general pointed to 
a portrait. Lersundi had a diplomatic face and no military air. 
'_' Polevieja?" inquired the visitor, turning away. The generals 
index finger was again brought into play. Polevieja was the suc- 
cessor of Blanco as Captain-General of the Philippine Islands. He 
is accredited with having crushed the rebellion in those islands, 
although later dispatches say that the fires of insurrection are 
again burning as brightly as ever. It was said in Havana that he 
is to be successor to Blanco in Cuba. Many years ago he was 
Captain-General. The face bore a remarkable resemblance to that 
of the late Gen. John A. Logan. 

"Dulce?" inquired the visitor. General Parrado pointed to a 
portrait on the opposite wall. It was that of Dulce, who was 
driven from the island by the Havana volunteers because of his 
clemrnry. As the visitor gazed upon his features and made some 
remarkrj in English, the General looked at him (lucrulously. Some 



9 

of the Weyler newspnpers liad iutiraateil that Blanco miirlit meet 
the fate of Dnlce. '•C\)ncha," remarktxl the visitor, at which the 
General sinile<l and doriij^natt'd the poi'trait of one of the most 
noted of all the Spanish j;:overnors. It was an American face, 
denoting firmness and decision. There was nothing SpauLih 
about it. 

At this point General Parrado turned, and, pointing to a por- 
trait near by. said, " Blanco!" 

"Oh. no," remarked the visitor, "not Blanco— the Prince of 
Wales." 

At this the General lani^hed heartily. At the same moment 
General Blanco entered the room. Parrado told him what the 
visitor had said, and the General laughed, apparently enjoying 
the remark. It was a portrait of General Blanco, taken nearly a 
quarter of a century ago, when he was first made Captain-General 
of Cuba. The features were those of the Prince of Wales twenty 
years ago, but the complexion was darker. Blanco, however, 
like the Prince of Wales, has groA\ni stout. He has a plca.'^aut 
face and a mild eye. He wore neither uniform nor decoration, 
but was dressed in plain black. You meet a dozen men in Wall 
street eveiy day who resemble him. He looked more like a pros- 
perou.^ banker than a Captain-General. With General Blanco 
came Dr. Congosto, the secretary-general. All retired to the re- 
ception room and were seated in a circle. 

General Lee and General Blanco greeted each other quite 
warmly. It was evident that Blanco had a warm spot in his heart 
for Lee, and that Lee, to a certain extent, reciprocated the feel- 
ing. Each inquired after the other "s health, and there was a vein 
of badinage in their conversation. 

" You must visit me in the United States this summer," said 
General Lee, "and we will go to Saratoga together. The water 
there will be of great benefit to you. Aside from this, there are 
grand balls every night, and you will have an opportunity of being 
presented to many beautiful American ladies. I understand that 
during your last visit to the United States you were greatly im- 
pressed with their loveliness." 

General Blanco partly understood what was said, but relied 
upon an interpreter for a thorough definition. Throwing up his 
hands, he said he feared that he would be unable to accept the 
kind invitation that was extended to him. " My duties might 
keep me in Havana," he added. 

General Lee replied that if he could not find time to visit the 
springs, it would be his pleasure to send him several cases of the 
w^ater, as he felt confident that it would be very beneficial. 

AUTOXOMY. 

Meantime the visitor had entered into conversation with Dr. 
Congosto. He had met him in Philadelphia several years ago, and 
recalled the meeting. Congosto speaks English like an American. 
He was polished and cordial. He has a remarkable head, with a 
full, broad forehead and large licjuid eyes. He is known as the 
Talleyrand of the lilanco administration. 

" Of course your visit here is for pleasure alone?" he said. 

"Hardly that," replied the visitor. " I came to see what I can 
see. if not to hear what I can hear." 

The conversation then drifted upon the effort to establish au- 
tonomy for Cuba. The proposal, the visitor was told, came from 
Madrid, at the suggestion of General Blanco. Th'^i Captain-Gen- 
3643 



10 

eral .selected the autonomic cabinet. It consists entirely of Cubans. 
Tlii.s cabinet had complete control of the civil administration of 
the island, Congosto said, and they were entirely responsible for 
the present situation. They had removed the Spanish governors 
of the six provinces and appointed Cubans in their stead. One of 
these governors in former days had been sentenced to death. 
More than this, the autonomic cabinet had removed all the Span- 
ish mayors of the ditleront cities and appointed Cubans in their 
jdaces.' All the judges of the courts had been removed and Cubans 
Hubstituted. 

It was a system more liberal than tliat in Canada to-day. Gen- 
eral 131ancodid not preside at the meeting of the cabinet, and had 
no more power than the Governor-General of Canada. Elections 
liad been ordered the same as those held in the Canadian provinces. 
They would bo held some time in April. When he was asked 
whether tiie franchise was based on a i)roperty qualification, he 
rei)lied, '"No; the only fiualification is the ability to read and 
write, and loj-alty." 

"Arc tlie negroes to vote the same as the whites? " he was asked. 

' • Certainly,'" was the reply. "There is no distinction as to race 
or creed here. We recognize the negro as an equal with the 
whites, both socially and politically. The blacks are far more 
free than tho.se in the United States," he remarked, "for if I am 
to believe what I see in your American newspai)ers, many of them 
are debarred from voting. In Cuba there is no feeling against 
them, nor any (juestion whatever of their rights to vote." 

In reply to further questions Dr. Congosto said that the inspect- 
ors and canvassers of elections were all appointed by the auton- 
omists. 

"I am told," said the visitor, "that the Spaniards will vota 
against autonomy." 

"This maybe true," was the answer; "I am inclined to the 
opinion that the Spaniards will carry the large cities, but that the 
autonomists will carry the country." 

It was suggested that the autonomist elective officers might ma- 
nipulate the returns so as to give an autonomist majority. Dr. 
Congosto smiled and replied: " You seem to be familiar with the 
American system of conducting elections. Here the system is an 
experiment," he continued, shrugging his shoulders, "but it is 
my belief that the autonomists will be successful." 

In further conversation it was alleged that the autonomists were 
the ones who were making proposals to the insurgent chiefs and 
endeavoring to draw them within the line of autonomy. He ex- 
liressed no opinion as to the result of such an experiment. 

"Well, Doctor," said the visitor, "if the autonomists electa 
majority and a system is inaugurated the same as that in Canada, 
what next? It has not received the indorsement of the Spanish 
Cortes." 

"No," replied the secretary-general; "the last Cortes made no 
provision for it, but a new Cortes, under the administration of 
Sagasta, is to be chosen, and thej' will have the power to sanction 
it." 

Here the visitor remarked that Martinez Campos had made a 
similar proposition, so as to end the ton years' war. It had been 
l)ractically accepted by the insurgents, aiid ( Jomez and Maceohad 
laid down thoir arms and left tlie island with an explicit under- 
statiding that autonomy was to be given, vet when Campos became 
prime minister of .Spain llie Cortes fail-d to ratifv it. Congosto 



11 

made no reference to Caniiios. but replied that this jtvoposi- 
tion came from Sapasta. The elections in Spain wonld nndonbt- 
edly resnlt in the trinmph of Sagasta's administration. The Gov- 
ernment usually carried the elections, and in hia opinion there was 
no doubt about" this one. A Cortes would be elected that would 
support the proposition of autonomy cominj? from the prime min- 
ister. Here the visitor said all would then remain in the hands of 
the prime minister. If he should chan-e his mind and reverse 
his steps, the Cortes would undoubtedly vote in accordance with 
his wishes and refuse autonomy. 

To this no reply was made, save a shrug of the shoulders. The 
Doctor apparently believed that none was necessary. 

All this time General Lee continued his conversation with Gen- 
eral Blanco, As the party arose they were conducted again to 
the apartment containing the portraits of the Captains-General. 
It was remarked that the Captains-General of the seventeenth 
century bore a striking resemblance to the signers of the Declara- 
tion of' Independence. They wore queues and had clean-shaven 
faces. Some had blue eyes and Roman features, presenting a 
marked contrast to the most of their successors. General Blanco 
and General Lee, with General Parrado, sat down at a desk, whila 
an artist sketched all three. The conversation rippled right mer- 
rily, with the assistance of an interpreter and an occasional sally 
from Congosto. It was more of a social than a formal reception. 

Five minutes afterwards formal leave of the Captain-General 
■was taken. As the party descended the marble stairway they 
stopped to admire the statue of Columbus. Files of Spanish sol- 
diers still remained at the entrance. 

"It was here in front of this statue," said a correspondent who 
accompanied the partv, ' ' that the body of General Aranguran was 
placed when it was brought to Havana two weeks ago. It was 
borne here covered with blood, amid the imprecations of the Span- 
ish volunteers. Blanco, from the second-story window, witnessed 
the demonstration. With an impatient wave of the hand, he 
promptly ordered the corpse to be taken to the morgue. When 
the relatives of the unfortunate young Cuban patriot sought it, 
the General humanely turned it over to their care and it received 
a Christian burial. 

TREATMENT OF AMERICANS. 

The sufferings of Ainerican citizens in Cuba have been over- 
looked in the horror created by the execution of Weyler's recon- 
centration order. It resolved itself into a deliberate effort to ex- 
terminate the rural Cuban population by starvation. No effort 
was made to feed them. To use the words of Miss Clara Barton 
to a Congressional delegation visiting Matanzas, "the Turks were 
far more merciful to the Annenians. They put them to the sword 
outright and spared them the untold miseries inflicted upon the 
Cubans." 

It was not at first generally known that among the reconcen- 
trados driven into the Weyler pens were scores of citizens of the 
United States. In every case they were treated as rebellious sub- 
jects of Spain. If they protested and refused to obey the order, 
they were slaughtered on their plantations by the Spanish guer- 
rillas. In most cases their cattle were killed, their houses burned, 
and their lards laid waste. Many would have starved to deatli 
in the pens were it not for the §.jO,000 appropriated by Congress. 
A few beyond the ken of the watchful consuls charged with the 
distribution of the provisions undoubtedly did die of starvation. 



12 

Gen. Fitzhn^li L'^e filled his functions grandlj'. His example 
was foUiiued by Consul LJrice, at Matanzas, and Consul Barker, at 
Saj^ua la Grande. All made reports of the.?c outrages on Ameri- 
can citizens, but these reports were buried in the pigeonholes of 
the Stato Department here at Washington. Near Sagua la Grande 
an Ami'-rican citizen was butchered on his plantation by guerrillas. 
The murder was brought to the attention of Consul Barker. 
With sloopk'ss energy he laid bare every detail. He secured the 
allidavits of seven eyewitnes.scs of the crime and forwarded them 
to Washington. No reply was received, and I have no knowledge 
of any protest made by the State Dei)artmeut to the Spanish au- 
tlmrit'es. 

Nor was the situation improved under the-i-ule of autonomy. 
In Matanzas to-day there remains an American citizen who two 
years ago owned a plantation on the river, six miles from the city, 
lie was driven into th.' pen under the Weylcr order and his plan- 
tation destroyed. A Cuban by birth, he married an American 
girl in Amherst, Mass., and became naturalized. Through the 
kindness of Consul Brice he escaped starvation. On the V2th of 
November last tha alleged autonomist government removed the 
governor of the province of Matanzas and appointed a native 
Cuban, d'Armis, in his place. The new governor is undoubtedly 
humane and .sympathetic. He was once an insurgent, and waa 
sentenced to death for treason by the Spanish authorities. He 
accepted office very much as Govin accepted it, with a view of 
again trusting Spanish promises and of giving autonomy a fair 
tr:al: but he is governor only in name. 

The real governor is Molina, the general commanding theprov- 
inc-e, better known as the military governor. Molina received 
his commission from Weyler, and is heartily in line with his 
policj'. U'Armis issued an order allowing the American recon- 
centrado to return to his plantation. The Amherst man bor- 
rowed f?-2')0 and went back to the blackened ruins of his home. 
He bought a scow and began to make charcoal, intending to bring 
it down the river on the scow. Prosperity had not fairly glim- 
mered before his pits were destroj-ed, his charcoal was seized, and 
he was driven back within the lines. 

The military governor had revoked the order of the civil gov- 
crjior, and the deaths from starvation, as the records show, were 
1,50U a month. Indeed, 23 persons died in the square fronting 
the palace on the very day that the new civil governor took office. 
Consul Brice forwarded the facts in this case to the State Depart- 
ment, and a claim for damages was made against Spain. All 
have been buried in the archives, and not a whisper of the actual 
situation has ever reached the ears of Congress. 

Such are isolated cases of outrages upon American citizens in 
the provinces of Santa Clara and Matanzas. How many similar 
cases have occurred in Pinar del Rio, Havana, Puerto Principe, 
and Santiago de Cuba the buried reports of the American consuls 
may faintly outline. The fact remains that Weyler drew no dis- 
tinction between American citizens and Cubans when he issued 
hi.s inhuman decree. Nor did he heed the protests of those con- 
suls who were bravo enough to make them. Weyler"s order waa 
positive and imperative. The language, literally translated, is: 

All tlK- iiiliftbitaiits of tho country, or outside of tho lino of fortific.itiouij 
of tin- towns, sliiill. within till.' poriod of ei^lit days, coiicontriite theuisolves 
in till- towns o<.-cui)ii;d by the troops. Any indiviiUial who, nft'M- the expirii- 
t ion of this period, is found in the uninhabited parts will bo considered a 
robi'l and trit'd as such. 
U5i:i 



13 

lu most cases the order was exocuted by the Spanish guornllji^!, 
who plundortHl and murdeied without mercy. They acted in 
accordance with tlio spirit of Woyler's order, which meant ex- 
termination, without re.i^ard to ago, condition, or sex, lie, as ho 
said, simply carried out the order of Canovas, without fear or 
favor. It was thus, as a subaltern in the ten years' war, ho carrie<l 
out the orders of Captain-General lialmacoda, better known as 
"the butcher." Weyler shifts tho onus from his own shoulders 
to those of tho prime minister, for whom Spain alone is respon- 
sible. 

THE CASE OF ZARRATE. 

A remarkab'e instance of Weyler 's firmness and tmyielding 
spirit was shown in the case of Zabi Zarrato y Varona. Ho was 
editor of the Union Coustitucional, a semiofficial organ of tho 
Canovas-Weyler regime. Zarrate was also a captain of Spanish 
volunteers in active service in Havana. His aunt had been mar- 
ried to General xVzcarraga. then minister of war in the Canovas 
cabinet. Azcarraga, by tho way, was a native of tho Philippine 
Islands. The brother of Zarrate was secretary to the captain- 
general of Puerto Rico. A younger brother was the tutor of Eng- 
lish to the young King of Spain. For some unexplained reason, 
Zarrate left Havana and joined the patriot army. He carried 
himself with unexampled bravery and became a colonel under 
Maceo. 

After Maceo's death he was ambushed, wounded, and captured 
while carrj-ing dispatches from Pinar del Rio to Gomez, in Santa 
Clara. He was thrown into the Cabanas, and a court-martial 
was promptly ordered by General Weyler. The news of his cap- 
ture reaching Madrid, Azcarraga sent a private dispatch to Wey- 
ler, urging him to treat him as leniently fis possible. Weyler 
made no reply. He had the reputation of doing his duty, regard- 
less of fear or favor. A private disiDatch from the Captain-General 
of Puerto Rico met the same fate. The friends of ZaiTate we'o 
in despair. 

While the court-martial was in session Azcarraga sent Weyler 
an official dispatch, ordering the finding of the court to be kept 
secret. If its sessions were not ended, he ordered Weyler to sus- 
pend the proceedings and forward the prisoner to Madrid. Prompt 
was the answer of the Captain-General to tho minister of war: 
"The court-martial has found Zarrate guilty of treason. The 
sentence is death; and if I am Captain-General to-morrow, the 
prisoner will be shot." Azcai-raga api^ealed to Canovas and his 
cabinet and besought their intercession. They unanimously sus- 
tained Weyler. whereupon the secretary of war resigned. 

Providence, however, intervened in a manner almost miraculous. 
The next morning the King's tutor came to the King in tears, 
saying that he would be unable to give him a lesson in English that 
day, and begging to be excused. The little King asked what was 
the matter. "My brother is to be shot to-day in Havana," was 
the reply. The King instantly sought the Queen Regent and asked 
her to call a cabinet meeting at once, as he wanted to make an 
appeal on behalf of a friend. The cabinet happened to be in ses- 
sion at that moment, discussing the resignation of Azcarraga. 
The tiny King walked into the apartment with his mother. In a 
neat little speech he alluded to the grief of his tutor and detailed 
tho misfortune of his brother. There was no complaint against 
General Weyler. His firmness was applauded and hia devotion 
to duty praised. 
3rA3 



14 

But ho dosired in this case to relievo the distress of a friend, sava 
the brother, and temper .iustice with mercy. Never had ho asked 
any favor of tlie administration, although he had been proclaimed 
King a long time ago. This would be his first official act. He 
directed that the royal ])ardon be promptly transmitted to Ha- 
vana, bowed, and wixlked back to the royal apartments with the 
Qiioen Regent. The cabinet, it is said, were deeply affected by 
this exercise of the young King's prerogative. The dispatch an- 
nouncing tlie pardon was sent to General Weyler without delay. 
It arrived as Zarrate was marching to the laitrel ditch of the Ca- 
l)anas, where so many patriots have yielded up their lives for the 
freedom of Cuba. The King afterwards complimented General 
Weyler, and asked him to officially inform Azcarraga and other 
relatives of the royal clemency. Zarrate is now an alcade under 
the autonomist government. This pardon, it is averred, is the 
only one on record that has not been promulgated through Iho 
war department in Spain for centuries. 

THE COMMAXUER OF THE VIZCAVA. 

A story fully as romantic and interesting is told of Captain 
Eulate, the commander of the cruiser Vizcaya, the lato visitor to 
the harbor of New York. The incident occurred in La Guayra, 
on the Spanish main, in 1891. The American consul there was 
Mr. Hanna. a relative of Hon. Jerry Rusk, of Wisconsin. The 
city was raided by one of Dictator Mendoza's generals. He im- 
prisoned all of the foreign merchants and seventeen consuls, repre- 
senting different nations, demanding a large rans^om for their 
release. Hanna was out of town when the raid began. On his 
return he sensed the situation and took immediate steps for the 
rescue of his colleagues. 

The only war vessel in the harbor was the Jorge Juan, a little 
Spanish ship with three small guns, detailed for coast-guard duty. 
Her commanding officer was Eulate, then a sublieutenant in the 
Spanish navy. Hanna tried to communicate by cable with the 
United States Government, but failed. He next tried to reach 
the American minister at Caracas, and was again shut off. Fi- 
nally, as a last resort, he took a boat and boarded the Jorge Juan. 
Lieutenant Eulate received him with marked courtesy, and lis- 
tened graciously to his story. 

Hanna detailed the startling events that had occurred, and 
asked the aid of the Spanish gunboat in rescuing the imprisoned 
consuls. Eulate listened with much interest. He replied that 
Spain was one of the first nations to recognize the independence 
of the American colonies when they were struggling with Great 
Britain for their freedom, and she would not decline to assist the 
United States at a time like the present. He said his ship was at 
Mr. Hanna's disposal, and asked him what he intended to do. •' I 
propose to demand the release of the imprisoned consuls," was the 
reply. 

Lieutenant Eulate then placed thirty Spanish marines at the 
disposal of Consul Hanna. He ordered his crew to prepare for 
action. The marines were embarked in the launch, which dis- 
played the American flag. Consul Hanna landed witli them and 
demanded tlie release of the imprisoned consuls within twenty 
minutes, saying that if this was not done the gunboat would open 
fire njion the city. A single shot was fired at the Spanish vessel 
from tlie shore. It struck her in the bow, and Lieutenant Eulate 
responded with a blank broadside. The consuls were released 



15 

under Hanna's nltimatnm. He then domaiuleJ the release of the 
imprisoned forei.Lcn niercliants. General iVpptT, representing tho 
dictator, Mendoza, promptly complioil with the demand, and his 
troops evacuated the city. The American flag was then hauled 
down from the Jorge Juan and the Spanish ensign appeared at 
her stern. The marines were returned to the ship, and Captain 
Hanna and the released consuls warmly thanked Lieutenant Eulate 
for liis services. 

This, however, was not the end of the matter. The Spanish 
Government was indignant at the action of its lieutenant. Ho 
was ordered back to Havana, deprived of his command, and sent 
to Morro Castle. A court-martial was ordered, the lieutenant be- 
ing charged with piratical acts at La Guayra. Before a verdict 
was rendered, the Spanish Government had oflicially received the 
thanks of nineteen foreign governments, ranging from the gigan- 
tic Empire of Russia to the Queen of Hawaii. This opened the 
ej^es of Spain. She recognized the iu.iustice done to Eulate. He 
was released from custody, was awarded one of the highest naval 
decorations, and placed on waiting orders. Within a short time 
he was made a captain in the Spanish navy and appointed chief of 
the arsenal in Havana. 

When it was determined to send the Vizcai/a to New York, 
Captain Eulate was placed in command. It was believed that 
his action at La Guaj-ra would especially commend him to the 
American people. Spain thought that it could not offer a greater 
act of courtesy. Unfortunately, the action of Eulate at La Guayra 
had never attracted the attention of the American newspapers. 
The public were in ignorance of the facts. They remembered 
only that Eulate had presided over the court that sentenced the 
Competitor prisoners to death. When the court-martial was held 
up by orders from Madrid, Captain Eulate resented the action. 
He indignantly asked for leave of absence and went into retire- 
ment at Puerto Rico. 

AXTONIO MACEO. 

Of all the interesting information gleaned by the Congressional 
delegation, however, none is more interesting and romantic than 
that illustrative of the character and life of Gen. Antonio Maceo. 
It was gratifying to know that he was not killed by the treachery 
of the Spaniards, although they made several eft'orts to poison 
him. I have in my possession a pass without the lines, issued by 
a Spanish officer to a man charged with this mission. It Ls dated 
in 1835. The emissary reached jNIaceo's camp and disclosed the 
plot to him, begging him to be on his guard. 

Maceo passed from the Province of Piuar del Rio by boat into 
that of Havana, and was endeavoring to reach the headquarters 
of the insurgents in that province, when he unoxpectedly mot a 
Spanish force and was killed. The story that he was led into an 
ambuscade by Dr. Zertuccha evidently is without foundation. 
The Spaniards liberated the physician, who was Maceo's surgeon, 
because he took advantage of Weyler's proclamation pardoning 
insurgents who should voluntarily surrender. 

Maceo was undoubtedly the greatest general that the revolution 
has produced. He was as swift on the march aa either Sheridan 
or Stonewall -Jackson, and equally as prudent and wary. Ho had 
flashes of military genius whenever a crisis arose. It was to his 
sudden inspiration that Martinez Campos owed his final defeat at 
Coliseo, giving the patriots the opportunity to overrun the rich- 

3543 



16 

est of the western provinces and to carry the war to the very 
gates of Havana. 

Maceo developeil rapidly in the ten years" war, which closed 
twenty years a^o. As a boy his brightness and probity attracted 
the attention of General Gomez, who made him his protege. In 
him Gomez had the utmost confidence, and he loved him as he 
loved his son or brother. Maceo entered the patriot army as a 
lieutenant. His promotion was rapid, and he rose to the rank of 
major-general. In that war he developed the ability shown in the 
present war. He died a lieutenant-general. No one has ever ques- 
tioned his patriotism. Money could not buy him; promises could 
not deceive him. His devotion to Cuban freedom was like the 
devotion of a father to his family. All his energies, physical and 
intellectual, were given freely to his country. He won the rank 
of colonel at Sacra, between Guimara and Puerto Principe. 

This was the first and the only time that Maceo was ever driven 
back, but the odds against him were fearful. Gomez was en- 
gaged in battle with General Valmesada, under whom Weyler 
learned cruelty and brutality. Gomez at this time had 800 men, 
and Valmesada l,5u0. Only 300 of the patriots were armed with 
rifles. The others carried the machete, and used it with deadly 
effect. Two hundred men were put lander Maceo's command. 
He was placed in an important iiosition and told to hold it as long 
as possible. Meantime Gomez prepared an ambuscade for the 
Spaniards. Maceo held the position for hours and brought back 
80 of his 200 men, 53 of the 80 being wounded. The Spanish 
forces were caught in a ravine and lost 000 men. It was the most 
momentous battle of the ten years' war. Maceo was then a cap- 
tain and Gomez commander in chief. 

Maceo, though a mulatto, was a second cousin of Martinez 
Campos. His mother came from the town of Mayari, on the 
north coast of eastern Cuba. Indian blood courses in. the veins 
of its inhabitants— the Indians of whom Jesus Rabi, a prominent 
Cuban general, is so striking a representative. Maceos mother 
was half Indian and half negro. Her family name was Grinan. 
Col. Martinez del Campos, the father of Martinez Campos, was the 
military governor of Mayari. While in this station he nad rela- 
tions with a woman of Indian and negro blood, who was a first 
cousin of Maceo's mother. It was in Mayari that Martinez Cam- 
150S was born. The father returned to Spain, taking his boy with 
him. Campos was baptized and legitimatized in Spain, and under 
Spanish law the town in which one is baptized is recognized as 
his legal birthplace. 

When Campos returned to Cuba as Captain-General he made 
inquiries for his mother. On discovering her residence he estab- 
lished her at Campo Florida, near Havana, where she was ten- 
derly cared for until her death, some three years ago. The second 
cousins were on opposite sides in the fight at Sacra, in which Val- 
maseda was defeated. While the governments were conducting 
negotiations at Zanjon, tinder the promise of autonomy made by 
Campos, Maceo. remained in the mountain district of Eastern 
Cuba. For a long time he refused to enter into any negotiations 
whatever witli the Spanish authorities. 

THE TRKATV OF ZAXJUX. 

After Maceo became a major-general and Campos became Cap- 
tain-Qonoral, and while preliminaries were being discitssed at Zan- 
jon, a meeting between them was arranged. C^impos was very 

u54o 



17 

deMroiis of a conferonco with Macoo. He sent word that he was 
coinini,', and they met on the phiin of liarra.i,'na. There were two 
royal i)alnisof extraordinary size on this phiin. landmarks throuj^li- 
Oiit the country, well known to everybody. It was agreed the two 
generals shonhl meet in the shade of these palms at noon, accom- 
j)anied bj- their staffs. The place of meeting was selected by 
Maceo, at the request of the Captain-General. 

Maceos army was only a few miles away. The mnlatto general 
arrived beneath the palm trees at noon, with an escort of thirty 
men. Raising his field glass he scanned the horizon, but coulil 
see nobody. Surprisetl that Campos did not keep his word, he 
dismounted and found the Captain-General seated and propped 
against one of the palms, fast asleep. Before this discovery Maceo 
had seen a horse tethered in a clump of bushes 200 yards away. 
It had borne Campos to the rendezvous. When the Spanish gen- 
eral opened his eyes, Maceo said: '• Whv, General, where is your 
staff?-' 

"Between gentlemen, on occasions like this," Campos gravely 
replied, " there is no need of witnesses." 

It is possible that the Captain-General did not de.siro the pres- 
ence of his staff, preferring that the conversation should be strictly 
confidential. Strangers are not the only ones dogged by Spanish 
spies. The Government itself maintains an espionage on all of 
its olficers. 

Describing the interview afterwards, Maceo said that never in 
his life did he feel more ashamed than when Campos remarked 
that gentlemen on occasions like this needed no witnesses. In re- 
l>ly tiie patriot said: "General, pardon me," and turning to his 
staff' ordered them back several hundred yards. Among them was 
the noted negro commander, Flor Crombet, whose inflexible pa- 
triotism was sometimes sullied by atrocious acts. Maceo might 
justly be termed the Toussaint fOuverture of the insurrection 
and Crombet its Dessalines. Saluting Maceo previous to retiring, 
Crombet said: " General, I hope you know your duty." 

To this remark Maceo responded: "Retire, and return at 3 
o'clock." 

Crombet refeiTed to a law enacted by the Cuban government 
similar to the one now in force in Cuba. It provided for the shoot- 
ing of any Spanish officer who approached a patriot general to 
treat for a surrender. In telling the story afterwards, Maceo said 
that he saw the devil in Crombefs eyes, and feared trouble. 

At o o'clock the escort returned, but without Crombet. Quin- 
tiu Bandera, the well-known negro general of the present war, 
came back with the escortand reported that onreaching the camp 
Flor Crombet had mustered his forces and departed. This re- 
duced Maceo's army at least one-third. Fearful that Crombet 
meant mischief, and knowing his savage disposition, ^laceo was 
afraid that Campos might be attacked on his return to his head- 
quarters. He offered to escort him back to his staff, and the offer 
was accepted. 

Crombet had really gone to ambuscade Campos and his escort. 
He planted the ambuscade at a point called Los Infiernos (Hell's 
Steps) . When Campos reached his escort, Maceo shook hands with 
him and departed. He warily followed the Captain-General . how- 
ever, until long after sunset. About h o'clock at night Camjios 
was fiercely attacked by Crombet. The attack was stoutly re- 
sisted. Maceo closed up, on hearing the first shot, and vigorously 
defended Campos, much to the astonishment of the latter. The 
CuW-:i 



18 

assault was repelled, and the Captain-Goiieral returned to Alto 
JSonm), Macco accompanying him as far as Jarajuica. 

Flor Crombet never rejoined Maceo. He afterwards disbanded 
his forces, reached the southern coast, and escaped to Jamaica. 
This story was told by Maceo to a friend while seated on a log on 
the plain of Barragua, near the two royal palms where Martinez 
Campos took his nap. 

SPAXISn TIIEACIIEKV. 

Maceo liad a second interview with Campos not long afterwards. 
It was upon the estate of an English planter. Campos urged him 
to follow the example of others and surrender on the promise of 
autonomy. Maceo stoutly refused to accept such terms. He pro- 
posed that he be allowed to secrete his arms and leave Cuba, feel- 
ing perfectly free to return to the island whenever he pleased. 
This proposal was finally accepted. Campos further guaranteed 
the freedom of the slaves in Maceo's army, promising that they 
should have the same rights in Cuba thereafter as Spanish citi- 
zens. He also solemnly promised that Maceo and his staff should 
be sent to Jamaica on a steamship furnished by Campos and there 
released. These promises were made in the presence of the British 
consul, who came to Songo with Maceo in a buggy. 

On his arrival at Songo the patriot general was sent in a special 
train with the British consul to Santiago de Cuba. From the train 
he went directly aboard the ship Thomas Brooks, chartered to 
take him to Jamaica. Somewhat to his surprise, his staff was 
placed aboard another steamer, called Los Angelas. In violation 
of the promise of Martinez Campos, the staff were taken, not to 
Jamaica, but to Puerto Rico. There thoy were transferred to 
Spanish war ships and taken toCeuta. It is probable that Maceo 
would also have been sent there, despite the agreement of Campos, 
were it not for the friendship shown him by the British consul, 
Mr. Ramsden, who was the owner of the Thovias Brooks. Some 
months later Campos became prime minister in Spain. He had 
guaranteed home rule to Cuba, but the Spanish Cortes refused to 
sanction the agreement. Thoy wei'e not, however, utterly lost to 
shame, for they did i:)ass Moret's bill freeing the negroes. This, 
however, looked like a stroke of policy. It was evidently done to 
curry favor with the negroes, whose bravery, devotion, and dis- 
cipline were unquestioned. 

The same policy is being pursued by the Spaniards to-day. 
Two negroes are serving as secretaries under the autonomist cab- 
inet. A month ago Blanco was forming a new negro regiment, 
offering recruits $"20 a month in silver. Negro volunteers are to 
ba found in all the largo cities. The white Cubans, however, are 
not allowed to enter the volunteer regiments; they are invariably 
incorporated into the regular Spanish army. The lieutenant- 
colonel of the royal body guard of Captain-General Weyler was a 
Spanish-French negro, born in New Orleans, and once a servant 
of ex-Senator P. B. S. Pinchback, of Louisiana. He was a distin- 
guished chiropodist in Havana when he was made a lieutenant- 
colonel. To-day he displays a dazzling array of diamonds and 
decorations. He is vice-chairman of the Weyler junta in Havana 
and chief of the colored fire brigade. He also o\%nis a triweekly 
newspaper, which invariably reprints from the American press all 
the accounts of lynchings of negroes in the Southern States. In 
his editorial columns he alludes to them as an argument against 
annexation to the United States. 



19 

Quintin Baiuloni incaiia ''fifteen flags." Tlio appellation was 
given to BiiiuU'ia because he had captured fifteen Spanish ensigns. 
He is a coal-black negro, of remarkable military ability. Ho was 
a slave of Quesada. With others of Maceo's staff, he was sent to 
prison at ("euta. While in prison the daughter (^f a Spanish stalt 
oflicer fell in love with him. Through her aid, he escaped in a 
boat toCxibraltar. where he became a Briti-sh subject, and married 
his preserver. She is of Spanish and Moorish blood, and is said 
to be a lady of education and refinement. She taught ht-r hus- 
band to read and write, and takes great pride in his achievements. 

Jos' Maceo, the half brother of Antonio, escaped from Ceuta 
with (Quintin Bandera. 

Antunio Maceo neither smoked tobacco nor drank spirituous 
liijuor. When he felt unwell, he took copious drafts of orange 
leaf tea. It is said that he was also in the habit of taking arsenic 
in solution. He forbade all smoking in camp at nights, and no 
one had the hardihood to smoke in his presence, as he had a 
natural antipathy to the fumes of tobacco. 

After the c!ose of the ten years' war he became a civil engineer, 
and spent some years in Central America. He was in communi- 
cation with !Mar'ti and Gomez, and received information of the 
late insurrection at Port Limon. From there he went to Venezuela 
and from Venezuela to Cuba. In concert with Marti, Ciomez, 
Flor Crombet, Rabi, Bandera, and others, he assisted in organiz- 
ing the army and in developing a plan of operations. The final 
meeting was held upon a plantation owned by a relative of the 
Pope. It was Maceo who planned the attack upon Martinez 
Campos on the way from Manzanillo to Bayamo. It was in this 
attack that General Sautocildes was killed. Campos instinctively 
took an unused road and escaped to Bayamo. He had previously 
escaped death by strategj'. He was carried in a litter from the 
rear to the vanguard of his army. The Cubans, taking him for a 
wounded soldie*. allowed him to pass without firing at him. 

One more characteristic incident in the life of Gen. Antonio 
Maceo. As the years roll by he will itndoubtedly loom up as the 
heroic figure in the long and bitter struggle for Cuban freedom. 
His patriotism was entirely untainted with selfishness. His heart 
beat for Cuba and Cuba alone. His whole family perished in the 
war. No cruelty stains his record. Of unquestioned military 
genius, his ceaseless energy w^as second only to his tact and fore- 
cast. In resource ho was boundless, in bravery iinsurpassed, in 
l)rudence a marvel. Obeying orders himself, he commanded obe- 
dience from others. Outrages upon noncombatants were remorse- 
lessly punished. The black soldiers of Flor Crombet quickly 
learned to fear and respect him. Two of them were charged with 
assaulting defenseless Cuban women on the outskirts of a town 
garrisoned by Spaniards. 

The evidence was clear and irrefutable. On the finding of a 
court-martial they were sentenced to death. In vain did Crombet 
and Quintin Bandera urge Maceo to pardon them. They were 
brave soldiers, whose reputations were previously unstained. 
The orders against such outrages were imperative. The strictest 
discipline must be maintained, and it was not a case where justice 
could be tempered with mercy. Both men were hanged in front 
of the camp, and henceforth Maceo's men were as ord»M-ly and 
as obedient as soldiers of Sparta. No one was excepted in camp 
regulations. Even the newspaper correspondents were held to 
as strict account in the line of marcher elsewhere as the humblest 



20 

poklier. Maceo was no respecter of persons when orders were 
(lisol)eyecl. Grave and saturnine in disposition, he had few or no 
favorites. Always thouj^htful and wary, he never slept nnles-s 
he fancied himself in perfect security. 

MACEO'S MILITAKY ABILITY. 

Any story that sheds light upon the character and career of 
thisextraordinary man must prove of more than ordinary interest. 
This incident occurred after the battle of Paralejo, where Santo- 
cildes was killed, and Martinez Campos escaped to Bayamo, leav- 
ing? his roiited army heliind him. Flor Crombet had fallen in 
battle several weeks before this fight, and Marti had been killed 
in an insignificant fight at Dos Rios. Gomez had passed into 
Camaguay to add fire to the insurrection, and Maceo had been 
left in command in the province of Santiago. To him was Cam- 
pos indebted for his defeat. He escaped capture as if by intui- 
tion. A new snare had been spread for him by Maceo after the 
deatli of Santocildcs, and he was alreadj' within its meshes when, 
intuitively divining the situation, he came to an about face and 
fled to Bayamo by an unused road covered by an impassable 
thicket in the rear of Macco"s victorious troops. 

The Spaniards were rapidly reenforced after the escape to Bay- 
amo, and Maceo. with Quintin Bandero, began to fall back to his 
impregnable mountain retreat at Jarahuica. This was in the 
heart of Santiago de Cuba, over 100 miles east of Bayamo and 25 
miles northeast of the port of Santiago. His war-worn army 
needed rest, recruits, and supplies. Once in his mountain fast- 
ness, he was perfectly secure, as no Spanish army would trust 
itself in the rocky range. News of his movements had reached 
Santiago, and a strenuous effort was being made to head him off 
at San Luis, a railroad town 15 miles northwest of that city. 
Nothing, however, escaped the observation of the,Cuban general. 
With wonderful prescience he anticipated the movements of the 
Spaniards. His troopers were armed with machetes, and the in- 
fantry with ritles and ammunition captured at Paralejo. Bandera 
commanded this band of black foot soldiers. 

The march had been terrific, and horses and men were nearly 
fagged. With sparse supplies the pace had been kept up for 
hours. The sun had gone down, and the moon was flooding the 
fronds of the palms with pale, silvery light. Maceo held a short 
conference witli Quintin Bandera, and not long afterwards the 
blacks wheeled in column and disappeared. Meantime the Cuban 
cavalry continued its course. By midnight it had reached Cem- 
etery Hill, overlooking the town of San Luis. The moon was 
half way down the sky. Maceo sat upon his horse surveying the 
scene below him long and silently. The little town was aglow 
with electric lights, and the whistle of locomotives resounded in 
the valley. Over 3,000 Spanish troops were quartered in the 
town, and their movements were plainly discernible. 

Trains were arriving hourly from Santiago, bearing strong re- 
enforcements. Through a field glass Maceo watched the stirring 
scene. He turned the glass beyond the town, and gazed through 
it patiently, betraying a trace of anxiety. Finally he alighted and 
conferred with Colonel Miro, his chief of staff. A moment after- 
wards came the order to dismount. Three hundred troopers obeyed, 
and were about to tether their horses when they were called to 
attention. A second order reached their ears. They were told to 
stand motionless with both feet on the ground, and to await fur- 



21 

tlier orders with tlioir right hands on iheir sathlles. In the moon- 
light beneath the scattered pahns they htood as silent as it iietrified. 

Among them was (Teorgo Eugene Bryson, a newsjiaper cor- 
respondent, who had known Macto many years, ami who had 
parted witli him at Port Linion. in Central America, a few months 
before. Ho had joined the column just after the battle of Pa- 
ralejo. In obedience to orders, he stood with his arm over tho 
back of his horse, blinking at the enlivening scene below him. 
Exhausted by the day's inarch, his eyes closed, and ho found it 
impossible to keep awake. A mcjment later he fastened the bridlo 
to liis foot, wrapped himself in his rubber coat, placed a satchel 
under his head, and fell asleep in the wet gra,ss. 

Tho adjutant soon awoke him, telling him that ho had better 
get up. as they were going to have a fight. lie thanked the adju- 
tant, who toUi him there were over ;5,(t()0 Spanish soldiers in San 
Luis, and that it was sttrrounded with fourteen blockhouses. 
The correspondent soon curled himself on the grass a second 
time and was in a sound slumber, when he was again aroused by 
the adjutant, M'ho told him he was in positive danger if ho per- 
sisted in disobeying the order of General Maceo. A third time 
his heavy eyelids closed, and he was in a dead sleep, when startled 
by a peremptory shake. Jesus Mascons. Maceo's secretary, stood 
over him. "Get up this instant," said he. " The general wants 
to see you immediately." 

In a second Bryson was on his feet. The whistles were still 
blowing and the electric lights still glowing in the valley and the 
moon was on tlie horizon. He went forward in some trepidation, 
fancying that the General was going to upbraid hini for disobey- 
ing ills orders. He was surprised to find him very pleasant. 
Maceo always spoke in a low tone, as he had been shot twice 
through the lungs. 

"Are you not liungry?" he asked. 

"No,"' the correspondent replied, wondering what was in tho 
wind. 

"I thought possibly you might want something to eat," General 
Maceo said, with a smile. "I have a boiled egg here, and I want 
to divide it with you." As he uttered these words he drew out 
his machete and cut the egg straight through the center. Passing 
half of it to the correspondent he said: "Share it; it will do you 
good." The newspaper man thanked the General and they ate 
the egg in silence. He said afterwards that the incident reminded 
him of General Marion's breakfast with a British officer. He had 
read the incident in Peter Parley's History of the Revolution, 
when a school boy. Marion raked a baked" sweet potato out of 
the ashes of a ca-sup fire, and divided it with his British guest 
The officer regretted the absence of salt, and the correspondent 
said he experienced the same regret when he ate his portion of 
General Maceo's egg. 

After munching the egg both men sat for some time observing 
the stirring scene in the valley below them. Tho moon had gone 
down, but in the glow of the electric lights they could see that the 
activity among the Spaniards was as great as ever. .Suddenly 
Maceo turned to Bryson and said abruptly, " Were you asleep 
when .Jesus called you? "' 

"Oh. no," Bryson replied, "I was not asleep; I was only just 
tired — that was all." 

The General looked at him searchingly, and then said. "Don't 
worry; it is all right. We are going through that town in a few 

35« 



22 

niinntes. There may be a fierce figlit, ami j-ou will need a clear 
head. The egg will give you strength." 

Within twenty minutes the little column of 300 men was on 
the move. They led their horses down the hill about an hour be- 
fore daybreak with the General in the lead. Silently and stealth- 
ily they entered the outskirts of the town. The column passed 
two blockhouses without being observed, and at the break of day 
was beyond the town on the main road to Banabacoa. Meantime 
the Spaniards had discovered them. The town was aroused, and 
1 ."iO Spanish cavalry headed the pursuit. The road wound through 
IJL'lds of cane. A strong column of Spanish infantry followed the 
cavalry. Maceo held his men in reserve and continued his march, 
the Spanish troopers trailing after them like so many wild-cats. 
Suddenly, to their astonishment, Quintiu Bandera's infantry arose 
on either side of the road and almost annihilated the pursuing 
cfilumn. Those that escaped alarmed the columns of infantry, 
who returned to San Luis and began to fortify themselves. 

Maceo and Bandera camped on the estate of Mejorana, about G 
miles away. It was here that Marti, Gomez, the two Maceos, 
Crombet, Guerra, and Rabi met not long before this to inaugurate 
the new revolution. Bandera and Maceo found plenty of pro- 
visions at the estate, but no bread. A small Cuban boy was sent 
to the Spanish commander at San Luis with a note requesting 
him to be so kind as to send some bread to visitors at the Mejo- 
rana plantation. The boy delivered the note, and the Spanish 
commander asked who sent him. Without a moment's hesitation 
he replied, '"General Maceo.'' The Spanish official laughed and 
replied, "Very well, a si;pply of bread will be sent. It will not 
be necessary lor Maceo to come after it."' What is more remark- 
able is the fact that Maceo told the correspondent beforehand that 
the bread would be sent, as the Spaniards had been so frightened 
by Bandera on the previous day that they did not want to invite 
another attack. That very evening the boy returned convoying 
many bags of bread. The Spaniards remained within the town 
until Maceo had rested his army and departed for Jarahuica. 

SPANISH SOLDIERS. 

Much has been said concerning We3'ler's armj'. I saw maaiy 
Spanish troops in Cuba. In nearly every case they were neatly 
dressed, fairly drilled, and usually polite and obliging. Their arms 
and accouterments were always in good condition, and they 
seemed to be in the best of spirits. They carried Mauser rifles and 
wore a uniform of light material, something like the old-fashioned 
check apron of our boyhood days. The coat resembled a Norfolk 
jacket, and was usually held in place bj- a black belt. Their hats 
were of a fine chip straw, with broad brims. The left side of the 
brim was pinned to the side of the crown with a rosette, carrying 
tlie Spanish colors. The officers wore fine Panama hats, with the 
same rosettes and no plumes. Their uniforms were not of the 
same material as those of the privates, but were of a steel-gray 
color. The sleeves were richly braided in gold and similar braid 
appeared upon the coat collar. Rank was designated by the quan- 
tity of braid on each sleeve and collar. 

All the officers and many of the privates sported a profusion of 
medals. These were decorations awarded either for length of serv- 
ice or for gallantry. The most of these decorations carried in- 
creased itay, but so infinitesimal as to be ludicrous. One soldier 
exhibited a cross which brought in §1.7'.2 a year in addition to his 
regular pay. In one case an officer exhibited an emblem granted 



for service in the fii-ld whicii pvixliu-ed as lii^h as $T."»i"» a yc>tr. 
All who received honors wcro evid-ntly very proud of them, 
whether the remuneration was threat or small, ticnerals carried 
malacca canes aside from their swords. The cane is an indication 
of their rank. Tho commanding ofticors carry them in drillini; 
their rei^iments. Besides the drill there was an inspection every 
morning. I saw one in Havana. 

For the inspection the regiment was brought to a rear open order, 
the front rank facing about and confronting the rear rank. Tho 
inspecting officer starte 1 down the right of the line, the regiment 
standing at a parade rest. The companies came to arms port a.i 
he came down the line. From the start to the finish ho held his 
sword in his right hand, at an angle of '15, the hilt being within ;J 
inches of his nose. Each captain and ranking lieutenant atti-nded 
him as he inspected their company. Occasionally he stoi)ped and 
worked the locks of the diiferent rifles with his left hand, keeping 
his sword in his right and still carrying it at an angle of \o , At 
times he upbraided the men for negligence of attire. 

Meantime the companies awaiting inspection smoked cigarettea, 
gazed at the ladies in the windows of the hotels, and bought tid- 
bits from the hucksters who beset the line. The jabbering was 
incessant until the inspecting officer reached the company; then 
all were as motionless as statues. The privates seemed \o look 
Ttpon the inspecting officer with awe, while the company officers 
evidently gave cues to their men when he was approaching. There 
was no crowd around the regiment, and nobodj', aside from the 
soldiers themselves, seemed to take any interest in the inspection. 
After the inspection the commanding officer took his station 20 
feet away from the regiment and issued his orders in a loud voice. 
The regiment came to a close order, and moved off by the right 
flank at a very quick step to the call of the bugle. All the pri- 
vates were young men, ranging apparently between the ages of 16 
and 21. 

Such was a morning scene in Havana. These soldiers were 
Spanish regulars. The volunteers are an entirely different organ- 
ization. Their uniforms are of a different cut and texture, and 
the}- never appear in public except on special occasions. They 
probably drill at night in their armories. They are composed of 
porters, clerks, and other employees of the numerous mercantile 
and manufacturing establishments in Havana. Their officers are 
the proprietors and the sons of the proprietors. Thej' look spick, 
span, and neat, and have all the elan of the national guard of 
the State of New York. They exhibit no disposition to enter the 
field in search of the enemy, but maintain their right to remain 
in Havana and man the fortifications, if necessary, while the 
regular troops are sent to the front. 

Men in uniform are found on every street. The officers swarm 
in the restaurants, drinking light wines and feeding 0!i olla po- 
drida and other Spanish dishes well seasoned with garlic. There 
are usually ladies at their tables, and cigars and cigarettes are al- 
ways in form. The generals were as numerous as generals in 
Washington in 18G2 when Orpheus C. Kerr said that a negro threw 
a stick at a dog in front of Willard's and had tho misfortune to 
spatter mud on two major-generals, four brigadiers, and twelve 
colonels. The Spanish generals seemed to bo well sui)plied with 
money. They aired their uniforms in carriages at all hours of the 
day and as the sun went down appeared in profusion along a fa- 
vorite drive on the seashore toward Banes. 



24 

Many soldiers were seen at country towns along the railway be- 
twren Havana, Matanzas, and Saguala Grande. When the train 
stopped at a depot, a corporal and twelve men were usnally drawn 
np on the platform at a parade rest. Whether this was to main- 
tain order or as a mark of honor to traveling officers could not 
be ascertained. Possibly it was to take charge of supplies shipped, 
by train. At least half of the passengers were officers. None ap- 
peared to have passes, but all bought their tickets the same as 
otlier travelers. Each train had two ironclad cars, one immedi- 
ately behind the locomotive, and the other at the tail end of the 
train. There were usually a dozen soldiers in each of tlie cars. 
These ironclads were provided with benches and racks for mus- 
kets. The guards amused themselves with conversation and card 
playing while the train was in motion. Each car was under the 
connnand of a sergeant. The trains were frequently attacked by 
the insurgents, although a pilot engine preceded each train a quar- 
ter of a mile. 

During the Congressional visit two attacks were made between 
Havana and Matanzas. There was no direct assault upon the 
train, however. The insurgents were concealed in thickets and 
opened fire from ambush. 

At times they used grenades filled with dynamite. The Spanish 
soldiers showed no lack of bravery. It was said that the travel- 
ing officers went to the opposite extreme. Whenever an attack 
was made upon the train they got down on their hands and knees 
and crawled into the ironclad cars for shelter. Many of the sol- 
diers moiinted the tops of the cars and used their rifles. In no 
case did they leave the trains to attack the insurgents. At nearly 
all stations there were restaurants, where the officers refreshed 
themselves with light wines and liquors. 

The privates Avere forced to be content with their cold coffee. 
Not an intoxicated officer or private was seen by any member of 
the Congressional delegation. At one time the train passed a 
company of cavalry on the march. The horses resembled the 
marsh ponies found in Florida. The men rode in single file and 
appeared to be perfectly equipped. Near a bridge between Ma- 
tanzas and Havana, within a mile and a half of where Ruiz was 
killed, there was a field battery of three pieces. They looked like 
old-fashioned six-pounders and seemed to be in bad condition. 

The country was dotted with blockhouses, resembling those 
built in our Indian wars. Some were ironclad, and others pro- 
tected with plank. There were loopholes in profusion. Many of 
these blockhouses were surrounded with ditches, like moats, the 
ditches being protected by a barb-wire fence and the dirt thrown 
up against the blockhc>use. It was said that this prevented the 
patriots from assaialting the forts at night. In some of the houses ' 
where attacks were threatened the soldiers were ever underarms, 
war3% and watchful. In others they left their rifles in the racks 
within the house and lounged around outside in slovenly attire. 

The garrisons of these blockhouses vary in size. Around Ma- 
tanzas three soldiers, one of whom was a corporal, had charge of 
such posts. In small towns in the interior, more subject to at- 
tack, there v^ere a dozen soldiers at each station, under the com- 
mand of a sergeant. 

The Spanish recruit is not boisterous nor given to horse play. 
Ill' never solaces himself with song-;, nor becomes particularly 
demonstrative on any occasion. Tiie brightest of the recruits 
were called Gallegos. They are said to have a streak of Celtic 



blood in theiu, and they cortainly cxliiljit a Coltic disposition. 
They aro witty and c[uick in motion, Imt hick Irisli brawn and 
mnscle, Th.e iiiscayans were tall and energetic. There is said 
to bo fine fi,i,'liting material among them. This docs not hold true 
with t)io Catalans and Valcnoians, who are more squalid and not 
particularly neat in habit. 

Apparently there was no inspection of tliese blockhouses by any 
Spanish officials. Rarely were the guards relieved of duty, and 
there were no sjigns of drills or any military routine whatever, 
aside from lounging around the post and awaiting demonstra- 
tions from tlie enemy. Near the cities each blockhouse main- 
tained telephonic communication with tlie military governor. If 
the soldier was in doubt concerning anything, he immediately tel- 
ephoned to hoadtiuarters for instructions. I had a strong desiro 
to visit a cave near !Matanzas, mentioned by Humboldt in his 
travels. The proprietor of the hotel told me that I would not be 
allowed to pass beyond the lines. 

It was useless to apply to General Molina, the militaiy gov- 
ernor. Determined to make the attempt to visit the cave, I was 
accompanied by an interpreter, understood to be in the pay of the 
Spanish authorities. As we approached the last blockhouse be- 
yond the outskirts of the city wo were confronted by three sol- 
diers in shirts and trousers, and without coats and arms, who 
regarded our movements with lazy curiosity. This was the gar- 
rison of the frontier fort. The barbed- wire fence around the ditch, 
was broken down, and two hens were scratching the dirt in the 
little moat. 

I stepped over this fence and began operations by presenting 
each soldier with a package of cigarettes. They were accepted 
with thanks. The interpreter then told them that we wanted to 
go to the cave beyond. They shook their heads, saying that it 
would be dangerous, as the blockhouse was the last outpost and 
there were plenty of insurgents a mile or two away. Meantime 
the station agent of the railway came iip and .ioined in the con- 
versation. He prevailed upon one of the soldiers to go into the 
blockhouse and telephone to the military governor for permission 
to go outside of the lines. He telephoned that a Federal deputy 
of the United States wanted to visit the cave and asked if there 
was any objection. It was fifteen minutes before a favorable 
reply was received. 

We found the cave a mile beyond the lines. It had formerly been 
a place of great imblic resort, but all the houses had been de- 
stroyed, and there were no signs of ciiltivation. All was deso- 
lation. A broken iron stairway led down into the cave. We 
descended until the light gi'ew dim, breaking stalactites and 
stalagmites to carry away as souvenirs. On our return two S(j1- 
diers stood at the entrance. They wore neat uniforms and pre- 
sented arms. They were two-thirds of the garrison of the block- 
house, one being the coriwral in command. They wore probably 
sent to prevent us from holding communication with the insur- 
gents. 

They said that they had left their post to be on hand and protect 
us if attacked by insurgents. Of cour.se thoy wore liberally re- 
warded, the corporal receiving a silver dollar and the jirivato half 
a dollar in Spanish coin. It was the first money that either had 
seen in nine months. 

Upon my return to the city I was met at the post by two mounted 
civil guards, who accompanied me to my huttd. The civil gov- 



26 

eniDi- liad leanieil that the "Federal deputj- '" had gone to the cave, 
and had sent this guard of honor as an escort on his return. 

No signs of sympathy with the starving reconcentrados were 
shown by the Spanish soldiers. Tlio starving people shunned 
them as tliey would have shunned hyenas. The soldiers treated 
tlieni with the utmost inditrerence so long as they remained within 
their pens. If any ventured outside they were either shot or bay- 
oneted, according to orders. The bayonets were short and resem- 
bled the blade of a bowie knife. The officers were far more heart- 
less toward the reconcentrados. They sneered at them, and took 
apparent delight in aggravating their misery. 

'( )n returning from tSagua la Grande toward ]Matanzas I bought 
a Madrid newspaper of February 22. Although not versed in the 
.Spanish language, I managed to extract some information from 
its columns. I afterwards offered it to a Spanish officer who sat 
in the opposite seat facing two comrades. It was accepted with 
thanks. Not long afterwards the officers opened a lunch basket. 
The car was filled with the flavor of boiled ham. Bottles of wine 
were uncorked, and the officer politely invited me to partake of 
the lunch. I as politely declined, saying that I was not hungrj'. 
As the officers finished their lunch the train entered Colon. A 
hundred starving reconcentrados besieged the cars on the;outside, 
extending their bony hands in supplication and moaning for food. 
The savory flavor of the ham reached their nostrils. 

The officers laughed at them in derision. Calling a fat young 
negro porter into the car, they placed him at the open window 
and gave him the remains of the lunch. He displayed the treasure 
to the eyes of the longing sufferers, and laughingly munciied the 
boiled ham and bread, washing it down with copious draughts 
of light wine. To the agonized expressions of those outside he at 
first i)aid no heed; then he made up a tempting sandwich and 
offered it to a starving white woman, with a starving infant at 
her breast. As she reached forth her hand to receive it, he drew 
it back with a grin and ate it himself. This action aroused the 
risibilities of the Spanish officers, who seemed intensely amused, 
and patted the negro on the back. 

A VISIT TO GEXEIIAL LEE. 

Consul-General Lee occupied apartments in the Hotel Ingleterra, 
Havana. The Congressional delegation freqiaently visited him. 
With mj' colleague, Mr. Smith of Michigan, 1 was at General 
Lee's rooms on the night that the officers of an Austrian corvette 
were being entertained at the palace of the Captain-General. All 
the approaches thereto were guarded by Spanish troops. L^'nder 
the order of General Blanco no one was admitted within the 
charmed circle without giving the countersign. It was at this 
banquet that the Austrian commander alluded to the trouble be- 
tween Spain and the L^nited States and assured his hearers that 
Austria had not forgotten the fate of Maximilian in Mexico. 
The remark was hailed as a threat against the United States and 
was cheered to the echo by the officers of the Spanish army and 
navy. 

General Lee, after a cheery conversation, parted the window 
curtains and invited his visitorstoa tiny balcony overhanging the 
street. The view was enlivening. The Prado "was bathed in the 
etfulgoncc of electric lights, and the statue of Lsabella adorning 
the oblong park fronting the hotel looked like an alabaster figure. 
All was life and activity. A cool breeze came from the ocean. A 



stream of well-ilressod ladies ami gentlemen poured alon.LC the 
Prado — durk-eyed seuoras and seuoritas with (.-ocinotti^sh veils, 
vohintecrs, regulars, and eivil guards, in tasty uuiforms, ami a 
cosmopolitan sprinkling of Englishmen, Germans, French, Ital- 
ians, and other nationalities, Americans l)eiug conspicuous, l^ow- 
Avheeled carriages rattled over the pavements in scores, many 
filled with ladies en inasque, on tiieir way to the ball. Occasion- 
ally the notes of a bugle were heard, and anon tho cries of negro 
newsboys, shouting •• La Luchal" 

It was while watching this ever-moving panorama that the con- 
versation turned upon tlie approaching war. All agreed that war 
was at hand and that it ought to be short, sharj), and decisive. 
The General know tho surrounding country thoroughly, ami 
tersely outlined the situation. He fancied Matanzas as a base of 
operations. He had visited that city and had inspected tho roads 
leading to Havana. Tiio fortresses of Matanzas are antique and 
their guns of very little value. They would not stand an assaiilt 
of the American Navy for more than three hours. A landing 
could bo efTccted without danger and tho occupation of the city 
made complete. 

Aside from this, Matanzas is salubrious, and fully as near Key 
"West as Havana. Tlie air is pure and water iilentiful and as clear 
as crystal. The city itself is within striking distance of tho caiu- 
tals of the four western provinces. A railroad runs to Havana: 
another to Gnines, south of Havana, and from there to Piuar del 
Kio. There are at least a dozen railroads in the province. One 
riins direct through Coliseo and Colon to Santo Domingo, and 
from there to Sagua la Grande; another runs direct from Santo 
Domingo to Ciouf uegos, and still another from Cicnfnegos to Santa 
Clara. There is also railroad communication with Remedios, on 
the northei-n coast. 

Matanzas is a little over CO miles from Havana. The roads are 
good, and the railroads may be used to great advantage by in- 
vaders. An American army might aj^proach Havana by railroad, 
the same as General Butler went from Annapolis to Baltuuore in 
1861. 

With 10.000 Union-Confederate veterans it seemed to me that 
General Lee could capture Havana within a week after landing at 
Matanzas. Such a landing, however, ought to be made before 
the rainy season sets in. Havana has no fortifications of any ac- 
count in its rear, and is practically unprotected from assault. 
Maceo repeatedly mustered his troops within 5 miles of the city, 
and coiild undoubtedly have captured it before the return of Mar- 
tinez Campos from Matanzas. He deemed it military prudence 
to restrain his men. The English evidently made a mistake over 
a hundred years ago when they landed near Havana and laid siege 
to Morro Castle. Many uien died from sickness who might have 
lieen saved if Matanzas had be3n seized and made a base of opera- 
tions. 

Tho fortifications at Havana, however, are much stronger than 
at the time of the English invasion under the Earl of Alliemarle, 
in 1702. There were 10,000 British troops in this expedition, and 
they were only two months in capturing tho city. It was tho 
English who built the Cabanas, a fortress nearly a mile long and 
far more formidable than Morro. 

General Lee's visitors were much impres-sed with his analysis 
of the military situation. They left him at midnight, all agreeing 
that it would be a just retribution for an American army corps to 
3:43 



28 

enter Havana with Fitz Lee at its head. His bearing in the city 
was magnificent. Ever wary and watchful of American interests, 
he visited the Captain-Generals palace at any hour of the day or 
night whenever they were threatened. 

( )f course, the feeling against him among the Spaniards was very 
bitter, but no insulting word was ever uttered withhi his hearing. 
Outwardly all were polite, if not affable. One night, at 11 o'clock, 
the General was informed that a clearance had been refused to an 
American yacht then in the harbor. Secretary-General Congosto 
had told her captain late in the afternoon that there would be no 
trouble about her papers. Indignant at Congosto's trickery, the 
General seized his hat. and at the midnight hour walked down to the 
palace and ascended the marble steps, between the scowling Span- 
ish sentries. In measured words and dignified manner he up- 
braided the Government oiftcials for their action, and the captain 
of the yacht obtained his clearance papers in the morning. 

SCF.XICS ox THE KOAD TO MATAXZAS. 

On the following morning at G o'clock two of the Congressional 
delegation started for Matanzas. They arose before daylight, and 
crossed the harbor in a ferryboat that would have disgraced Ho- 
boken a quarter of a century ago. To the left of the landing is 
the arena for bull fights. Crowds swarm to these fights on Sun- 
day, and fairly revel in the brutal sport. The train was made up 
of five cars, first, second, and third class. Two of the cars were 
ironclad. The fare from Havana to Matanzas, first-class, is $13 
in Spanish gold. These cars are furnished with cane-bottom seats 
and no racks. The windows are never washed, and the floor of 
the car is swept once a week. There was an improvement upon 
tlie American system in one respect— the name of the station 
which the train was approaching was always posted at the for- 
ward end of the car. 

The railroad, by the way, is not a government institution, and 
no trains are run after darkness sets in. The first station out wa3 
Guanabacca, a town which has frequently been taken by the 
Cuban patriots. The country was rolling and the soil quite ster- 
ile, nor was there any sign of cultivation. Spanish blockhouses 
capped many a hill, and the ditches along the railroad were fenced 
in with barbed wire. At times immense hedges of cacti and yucca 
lined the ditches. 

Ten miles beyond Guanabacoa the ti'ain reached Minas. This 
was a town of a half dozen houses, containing a .>acre pen, into 
which Weyler had driven the reconcentrados from the surround- 
ing country. It was said that 800 had died in this pen. Prob- 
ably a dozen starving creatures were still living. Their terror of 
the Spanish troops was so great that they did not dare to ap- 
proach the train. Before reaching Minas a range of mountains 
in the south came into view. 

At Minas the soil has a rich red tinge, and is said to be mar- 
velously productive, but there were no signs of cultivation nor 
was anybody but a Spanish soldier seen between stations. The 
whole country is depopulated and runs riot in tropical vegetation. 
Campo Florida was the next station. It is a populous town about 
1.1 miles from Havana. The soil between Camjio Florida and Ja- 
ruco was very rich and had evidently been devoted to the cultiva- 
tion of tobacco. From either side of the cars mountains could 
now be seen, resembling the Blue Ridge of Virginia. The coun- 
try was dotted with palms. They were scattered like oaks on wild 
:j4J 



29 

land in California or cedars in the Old Dominion. Most of tliem 
were roj-al palms, although genuine Floritla pahnettoos were fre- 
quently seen. B;irren jilaces were giveti nj) to a short palm with 
circular loaves and a top resembling the hcaiKlress of an Aztec 
chief. It is said that the seed of this paim was caiTied to Cuba by 
slaves brought from Africa. 

The succeeding villages are Bainoa and Aguacato. Both iiad 
apparently been thriving places, but many of the old habitations 
had been destroyeil. Those that remained were surrounded with 
miserable huts erected by the reconcentrados to shelter them from 
the sun. Very few of these starving people were seen, the great 
majority having gone to the silent land. Aguacate was near tho 
boundary of the province of Matanzas. From this place to tho 
city of Matanzas there is no town worthy of mention. The coun- 
try is mountainous, and the mountains are covered with a scrub 
growth, the retreats of tho insurgents. About 10 miles from 
Matanzas. on the left of the road, stand what are known as the 
Breadloaf Mountains. They rise from the plain like the Spanish 
Peaks in Colorado. These mountains are said to be the head(|uar- 
ters of General Eetancourt, who commands the insurgents in the 
province. The Spaniards have offered $.1,000 reward for his head. 
Several efforts have been made to secure it, but in all cases the 
woitld-be captor has lost his own head. 

As the train approached Matanzas the horses of Spanish forag- 
ing parties attracted attention. The men rode marsh grass ponies 
laden with bales of young shoots of sugar cane that gTOw wild on 
the abandoned plantations. There were probably a hundred of 
these foragers, and as they spurred their steeds to the utmost 
speed a cloud of dust arose in their wake. The depot at Matanzas 
was surrounded with starving reconcentrados and Spanish sol- 
diers. Aside from this, however, the city gave every sign of pros- 
perity. A beautif til stone bridge crossing the Matanzas River had 
just been completed, and bej'ond it a palatial structure of light- 
cream material was being built. 

There is no more charming spot in Cuba than Matanzas. The 
bay is like a crescent in shape, and receives the waters of the 
Yumuri and San Juan rivers, two small tmnavigable streams. 
A high ridge separates them. On this ridge back of the town 
stands a cathedral dedicated to the Black Virgin. It is a repro- 
duction of a cathedral in the Balearic Islands. The view from its 
steeple is magnificent. Looking backward the valley of tho Yu- 
muri stretches to the right. It is about 10 miles wide and GO miles 
long, dotted with palms, and as level as a barn floor. The Yumuri 
breaks through the mountains near Matanzas Bay, something 
like the Arkansas River at Canon City. Carpeted with living 
green and surrounded with mountains, this valley is one of the 
gems of Cuba. The San Juan Valley is more wild and rugged. 
There were slight signs of cultivation in the Yumuri Valley, but 
none in the San Juan. The city itself has about 48,000 inhabit- 
ants. Nearly 10.000 reconcentrados have died here since "SVeyler's 
order, and -iT.OiX) in the entire province, which is not larger in area 
than the State of Delaware. The governor's palace fronts a plaza, 
shaded ^\^th magnificent palms. In this jdaza twenty-three per- 
sons died of starvation on the IJthof November last. This infor- 
mation comes from Governor d'Armis himself. 

General Lee was right. No better spot could be selected as a 
basis of operations against Havana. A cool sea bre.'ze is usually 
in circulation, and the air is soft and balmy. There are fewmos- 
3:45 



30 

qnitoes. and encampments unsurpassed for convenience and salu- 
brity might be made on the ridge between the San Juan and the 
Vnmuri. Indeed, a Spanisli detaeliment is occupying the j^ard of 
the church of the Black Virgin. It is surrounded bj-a thick stone 
wall, and is a fortification far stronger than the famous stone wall 
at Fredericksburg. 

The Spaniards have alreadj- learned the value of Matanzas as a 
military i)ost. There are blockhouses on most of the elevations 
surrounding the city, and there were no sign of disease in the de- 
tachments occupying them. The camp kettles show no lack of 
food, and the soldiers themselves are clean and urbane. The 
only thing that they lack apparently is discipline. Squad drills 
are unknown, although the most of the soldiers are recruits lately 
landed from Spain. The officers spend their time in the city 
loiinging around the hotels and restaurants. Fearful stories are 
told of the atrocities perpetrated by a general, ferocious in aspect 
and insolent in manner, who was a favorite of Weyler and who is 
an intimate of Molina. The reconcentrados gaze at him in horror, 
remembering the atrocious butcheries committed by him long 
before Weyler "s brutal order was issued. If one-half tlie stories 
told of this man's cruelty are true, the buccaneers of the Spanish 
^lain were angels of mercy in comparison with Weyler "s favorite. 

HARROWING SCENES. 

The odds and ends of the visit were instructive, pathetic, amxis- 
ing, and interesting. None of the party could speak the Spanish 
language, and very few Spaniards can speak English. Everyday 
incidents occurred, grave and gay. Some gave rise to horror, 
others excited indignation, and many threw those interested into 
loud laughter. Interpreters were not always at hand, and when 
on service they did not always interpret correctly. The days were 
hot, with no flies, and the nights cool, with few mosquitoes. 
Meals were served with neatness and dispatch, but nearly all the 
dishes were tainted with garlic. You smelt garlic in the wine 
shops, in churches, in hotel corridors, and on the street corners. 
In Havana and Matanzas the water was as pure and clear as crys- 
tal. Havana gets her supply from river springs nearly 12 miles 
away. The aciueduct was biiilt by a Cuban at an expense of 
.$17,000,000. Spanish wines of excellent quality were cheap and 
abundant. Not a drunken man was seen in the entire trip. Xo 
insults were offered, and proffered courtesies were invariably 
reciprocated. 

Tlie starving reconcentrado. however, was omnipresent. The 
wan face and despairing eye were ever before you, and the skele- 
ton hand was ever extended. In the streets of Matanzas and 
Sagua la Grande scores of famished creatures of both sexes and of 
all ages and conditions swarmed around the strangers, pleading 
in low, mournful tones for food. Their appeals were as plaintive 
as the notes of the peewee in northern meadows. " Madre a Dios, 
Caballero"' — j'ou heard it morn, noon, and night, and the sad 
refrain rang your ears even in j'our dreams. Misery, hopeless 
misery, everywhere— whites, blacks, and Asiatics, for wherever 
there is misery j-ou find the Chinaman. Here he was conspicuous 
l)y his silence. He stood aloof from the swarming specters, gaunt, 
thin, and hollow-eyed, a picture of utter despair. 

Never was his hand extended, never did he press himself upon 
your attention, but there was a look in his eye that conveyed his 
sense of the utter hopelessness of his situation. At Colisco a living 



31 

skeleton, with almond oycs, sat npon the platform of the railway 
station, listless anil motionless. A battered ean swunjc from his 
bony fingers. A Congressman bought two small loaves, three meat 
cakes, ami a string of sausages and sliDved them into the battered 
can. The skeleton arose, but there was no thankful expression in 
his eyes. Clasping the can to his naked ribs, he slowly niuved 
away, but his strength was gone. He tottered and fell across the 
track in the hot sunlight, and as the train moved from the station 
there he remained, still clasping the bread to his breast. No one 
assisted him. No one tried to rob him of his tre;isure. Each ro- 
concentrado respeits the misery of his fellow. 

(.)f the hundreds seen by the visiting strangers, not one, how- 
ever pve-;sod by hunger, made any eft'ort to appropriate what did 
not belong to him. Between the s;iualid huts in the trorhas a few 
t(.'mato vines had been planted and the fruit was ripening beneath 
a blazing sun; yet no starving creature evinced a disposition to 
rob his fellow-suffei-er of the product of his labor. A ypanisli 
officer, however, strode among the huts at Colon early one morn- 
ing, drew his sword, and amused himself by leveling every plant 
to the ground. 

Nineteen out of twent}- of the reconcentrados were women and 
children. Tots oand G years old, homeless, fatherless, and mother- 
less, crawled through the camps, dying from starvation. Those 
sent to the hospitals met even a worse fate. Upon unclean cots, 
with festering limbs and parched throats, they met the same hor- 
rible end— for up to the advent of Clara Barton they were without 
food and without medical relief. And the Spanish newspapers 
called this angel of mercy ' ' a suspicious vulture. " At Sagua la 
Grande one morning two" bright little girls were seen seated upon, 
the stairway leading to the office of the American consul. A Con- 
gressman called the attention of Consul Barker to them. 

" Oh, 3"es," was the reply, " thej' are my little wards. They are 
the last of a famil}' of fifteen. My heart was touched by their 
destitution. I found them on the verge of starvation, and am 
trying to save them. I found shelter for them with a family not 
far away, and the little things visit me every morning to show 
their gratitude." 

They were cleanly in attire, but their faces were still pinched, 
and tlie habitual look of terror had not entirely left their express- 
ive eyes. Poor things! Basking anew in the sunshine of hu- 
manity, they were probably thrown back into the dread gulf of 
starvation three weeks afterwards, when Consul Barker left Cuba 
by order of the President. 

There were very few negroes among the reconcentrados. In- 
deed, but one black in the throes of death from starvation was 
seen. This was at Matanzas. The party was returning to the 
city from a visit to a hospital in its outskirts. While crossing a 
stone bridge over the river, something like an overturned iron 
statue lay below, on the sward of the bank. It was the skin and 
bone of a gigantic negro, entirely nude. lie was in the last 
agonies of starvation. He lay partly upon his side in the hot sun, 
with knees crooked and head upon his left arm. When we lean»-d 
over the parapet and addressed him, he made no reply and showed 
no sign of life. A moment afterwards a buxzard swooped over 
him, fanning his shrunken shank with its wings. And still no 
sign of life was shown. Again wo shouted from tlio parapet, 
but the figure remained motionless. Suddenly the head was 
3543 



32 

raised and the long, bony right arm moved in a feeble effort to 
scratch tlic naked thigh. 

Gazing steadily at the water, in which yonng mullet were 
swarming and .lumping, he faintly moaned and again assumed a 
recumbent position. Possibly he was deaf, for he seemed to be 
utterly unaware of our presence. Kor did he evince any interest 
when a peseta was thrown within his reach. Not far away an 
immense net. with thousands of nieshes and hundreds of corks, 
was stretclied upon the grass to dry. It had evidently been re- 
cently iised, for silvery scales Avere still glistening in its meshes. 
When the civil guard, who piloted the party, was asked why the 
rcconcentrados did not sustain life by catching fish, he shrugged 
his shoulders and replied: 

'•They are not allowed to do so.*' 

'• Why not? " was the next inquiry. 

"Because they have no license. It costs money to get a license, 
and they have no money." 

It was afterwards learned that the gigantic negro died as the 
.sun went down — died of starvation, while the jumping mullet 
within 10 feet of him were sprinkling his wasted frame with water. 

THE SUFFERIN'G IX HAVANA. 

Similar agonizing scenes turned up unexpectedly and in out-of- 
the-way places. There was a pitiful spectacle in the cathedral 
where the bones of Columbus are said to repose. The base of a 
statue was being built in one of the naves of the church, under 
which the remains are to be buried anew. A starving woman with 
an emaciated infant came through the doorway used by workmen 
and followed the Congressional party, mournfully appealing for 
alms. 

A verger drove her into the street. Within three minutes she 
entered the cathedral by another door and again besought assist- 
ance. The verger was showing the party the magnificent vest- 
ments of the archbishop of Havana worn on fete days. They 
were sprinkled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other i>re- 
cious stones, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Across 
these robes the suffering creature stretched her hand, while the 
babe ceased whimpering and gazod at the glittering jewels as 
though entranced. A second verger rushed from beneath a statue 
of the Madonna, seized the poor creature, turned her around, and 
she was again driven from the church before any of the party 
could contribute to relieve her distress. 

Another characteristic scene occurred on the Punta, opposite 
Morro Castle. Wlien the heat became insufferable, two of the 
Congressmen were in the habit of driving to this spot to enjoy the 
cool sea breeze. It was flanked by an old fortification and a lum- 
ber yard, with a bulkhead and a small pier near by. A negro, 
naked to the waist and barefooted, frequented the place. His 
right leg was swolloi to an enormous size. The driver called at- 
tention to tlie man by remarking that heliad "'an elephant's leg.'' 
He was snifering frum elephantiasis. The foot and leg were as 
large as those of an elephant. One of the party threw him a 
handful of Spanish coppers. 

Within a minute a score of reconcentrados appeai'ed. They had 
been lying between the piles of lumber and were anxious to par- 
ticipate in the distribution. Tlie excitement .spread to others in 
the vicinity. Tlnee or four wretched sufferers were sitting be- 
neath the pier in the shade of the bulkliead. The tide was low. 



33 

They saw wliat was RoiiiLj on and .struj^j^hHl tliiou^'h \\\o hiack 
luiui in an eftoit to ivach tlu> Punta. One fill ami was vainly 
trying to ivj^ain his ffut when the party, overcome by the distress- 
ing sight, drove away. These poor beings had left Los Fossas, a 
steaming pen into whieh they had been driven by Woyler's or- 
ders, anil were wandering about the city in search of snstenance. 

l.N'CIDEXTAr, 

Such scenes of horror were relieved bj- many an amusing inci- 
dent. xV story widely printed of a Congressman who used his 
umbrella in an engagement with a company of Spanish soldiers 
bad no foundation in fact. One night, however, this same Repre- 
sentative invited a colleague to ride down the Prado, A carriage 
was called, and an interpi-eter was told to instruct the driver to 
move slowly along the curb, giving the visitors an opportunity to 
listen to the music of a magnificent band stationed near the statue 
of Queen Isabella. The >scene seemed like one of enchantment. 
Hundreds of ladies coquettishly arrayed, with veils drawn partly 
across their features, were parailing the park listening to the 
music. As soon as the visitors entered the carriage the driver 
set off at full speed. 

"Go slow!"' shouted one of the Congressmen. "We want to 
hear the music and look at the ladies."' 

" Quiere que vaya mas ligero?"' asked the driver. 

" Si . si , senor, " replied the Western Congressman, iising the only 
Spanish words in his vocabulary. 

The driver's whip whistled in the air, and the horse redoubled 
his speed. The eciuiiiage dashed down the brilliantly lighted 
street, and the Congressmen looked at each other in astonishment. 

"Slower, slower! "' they shouted. 

"Mas ligero?" inquired the driver, with the sibilant "Si, si," 
in response. 

The lash was again applied, and the speed increased until the at- 
tention of all promenaders was fastened u])on the carriage. The 
Congressman bad lost all interest in the ladies, although the ladies 
were evincing a deep interest in the Congressman. As a last resort 
the Western member arose from his seat, clasped the driver around 
the waist and reached for the reins. Unfortunately he secured 
the right rein alone, and the vehicle swung in a circle on two 
wheels, bringing the hoi'se over the curb. 

"That will do for me," said tlie Eastern Representative, as he 
sprang from the carriage. "I never did care much for a ride, 
anyhow.'' 

His companion followed him and settled with the driver, with 
the remark that he "guessed he had enough."' They walked 
three-quarters of a mile back to the Hotel Pesaje and upbraided 
the interpreter in unmeasured terms. It turned out that he had 
told the driver to take the party to some place of amusement, as 
they wanted to hear music. It was after D o'clock and the driver 
was anxious to arrive at a music hall before it closed for the night. 
Of course he understood not a word of English. When told to 
go slower he asked if ho should go faster. The "Si. si" of the 
Western Congressman confirmed him in his belief, and he was 
utterly dumfounded when the reins were seized and the visitors 
disembarked. 

Another amusing incident occurred while these two Congress- 
men were dining in a restaurant. At an adjoining table sat two 
Spanish officers. They glared savagely at the two strangers, jab- 



34 

bering meanwhile in vigorous Spanish. The Congressmen, fancy- 
ing tliat they Avere the sub.iect of conversation, became indignant. 

'•I believe," said one of them, '• that these fellows are calling ns 
American pigs and using other insulting terms. 1 have half a 
mind to walk over to them and demand an explanation." He was 
about to do something rash w^heu a Scotchman, who sat at the 
table, smiled and said: 

" You make a mistake. The gentlemen are not referring to you 
in any manner. The heavy man is damning his shoes, saying 
tliat tliey pinch his feet and give him great pain. His friend is 
advising him to sell them and have a pair made by a Havana 
shoemaker." 

Both had drawn their shoes from the qiiartermaster's depart- 
ment on the previous day. The small officer had exchanged his 
with a shopkeeper and was advising his comrade to follow his 
example. 

THE CUBAN PATRIOTS. 

No one but Maximo Gomez himself knows the exact strength of 
the Cuban army. The bulk of the enrolled force is quartered in 
the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Puerto Principe. There 
are scattering detachments under different leaders in Santa Clara, 
Matanzas, Havana, and Pinar del Rio. Each little city has its 
own little junta, who distributes Gomez's orders and pronuncia- 
mentos throughout the island. I was visited by a member of one 
of these juntas while in an interior city. The interview was ar- 
ranged by an American who had spent several years in the island. 

I was enjoying a siesta in my room after dinner, when the door 
was opened and the secretary of the little rural junta popped in 
without warning. Knowing the number of the room, he had 
escaped observation in the hotel, slipped tip the stone stairway, 
and entered the apartment without being seen. The lattices 
opening on the balcony were closed, and after ascertaining the 
absence of all eavesdroppers, the door was locked. The windows 
fronted the main street, and only the plaintive cries of starving 
reconcentrados outside reached the ear. In the darkened room the 
conversation was carried on in low tones. 

]\Iuch information was gleaned on both sides. The secretary 
listened with breathless interest to an analysis of the situation in 
the United States. He spoke English very imperfect!}', but seemed 
to have no difficulty in understanding it. When told that Presi- 
dent McKinley"s determination to put a stop to the Spanish atroci- 
ties was fixed and unalterable, and that the American people were 
in a warlike fever over the destruction of the Jilainc, he shook his 
head doubtfully. He spoke of hopes blasted in the past, and evi- 
dently had little faith in the future. The information that Con- 
gress had put .S'lO, 000,000 in the hands of the President to prepare 
for war dazed him. 

Then his black eyes began to snap, and he ran his fingers through 
his hair. He could scarcely believe his ears when told that the 
Americans took no more stock in autonomy than did the Cubans. 
Their failure to either recognize the independence of the island re- 
public, or to grant the patriots even belligerent rights, made him 
feel still despondent. He feared that it foreshadowed a determina- 
ation toannexthe island. Assured that the sentiment in Washing- 
ton was against annexation, he replied: " If true, that is glorious 
news. It will cheer Gomez, and in case of war secure the hearty 
cooperation of his troops." With this opening, he was asked how 
many troops Gomez could bring into the field. 

o543 



35 

As he was about to rejily something: hoavy fell with a crash ont- 
side tlip door. In an instant ho spran.L' to his feet, quiverinL? with 
appreliension. I opened the door, Anuisic rack liad fallen to the 
floor. It had probably been blown over by the wind, which canio 
from the courtyard in breezy pufi's, inip.arting a delicious coolness 
to the atmosphere. But the secretary was not to be reassured. 
He was pale and nervous and was confident that some one had 
been listeninj? at the door. For a minute or more lie was mnto 
and motioidess. The wind rattled tlie bars of the lattice. " The 
balcony, tlie balcony! " he whispered, "borne one is on the bal- 
conj-l"' 

I tlirew open the latticed doors, while the Cuban shrank behind 
the curtain of the bed. There was no cause for alarm. Thestreet 
below was dotted with Spanish soldiers, but none of them had 
found his way to the balcony. The cries of the poor reconcentra- 
dos were more plaintive than ever. One scene photographed it- 
self upon my memory. A man with two heads of lettuce was 
passing the hotel. A starving girl in rags implored him for food. 
She was white-lipped and thin; there was burning fever in her 
veins. The citizen broke off a leaf of the lettuce and placed it in 
her bony fingers. 

She had hardly raised it to her lips before the man was fairly 
mobbed by famishing creatures. Among them was a crippled 
boy. Crawling ahmg the curb, he clasped his arms around the 
legs of the man and moaned pitifully. In a second he was kicked 
into the gutter. The citizen fought his way to the corner and dis- 
appeared with his lettuce, while Spanish officers in undress uni- 
form brandished their malacca canes and roared with laughter. 
A moment afterwards the sufferers were driven to cover by a 
spiteful sputter of Spanish profanity. 

Again was the lattice closed and the Cuban assured that there 
was no foundation for his suspicions. He replied that the Ameri- 
can visitors were surrounded by Spanish spies. Every movement 
was watched, and those who called upon them were marked men. 
Even the servants in their rooms were in the employ of the Gov- 
ernment, "There's some truth in this, I reckon," I returned, 
*• I have made the acquaintance of my spy. He's a good- 
natured Irishman, who speaks Spanish like a native and drinks 
whisky like a Kentuckian. Everybody tells me he's a spy and 
gives him the cold shoulder, but I find him very iiseful and hope 
to retain his services." 

The delegate from the junta, however, was in no good mood 
for badinage. He resumed his seat with evident trepidation, say- 
ing that he had important papers in his pockets. If found upon 
him by the Spaniards, they might lead to his imprisonment and 
death. He then drew from his coat pocket a small printed proc- 
lamation or order signed by ^laximo Gomez. It was printed in 
Spanish and was not larger than the leaf of a prayer book. This 
proclamation or order was to be placed in the hands of General 
Betancourt before siindown on the succeeding day. Betancourt 
was in the mountains near the coast, and the delegate from the 
junta was charged with the delivcrj- of the order. 

Before twenty-four hours a similar document would reach Gen- 
eral Bermudez in Santa Clara. General Kodriguez in Havana, and 
General Delgado in Pinar del Rio. It was of great inii)i>rtance, 
and the representative of the junta seemed burdened with a souse 
of his responsibility. He tried to tran.slate the document, but was 
utterly unable to make himself understood. One of the Congres- 
0.-4! 



36 

eional party was a United States Senator who had some knowl- 
edge of the Spanish language. He was sent for, and as he entered 
the room and was introduced to the Cuban visitor I passed him 
the order of General Gomez and asked him what he thought of it. 

Evidently the Senator had not corralled enough of the Spanish 
vocabulary to make a free translation. Besides, his eyesight was 
bad, and there was no sunlight in the apartment. He floundered 
through it with difficulty and finally gave it up altogether. Ap- 
parently he did not consider it a document of transcendent impor- 
tance, for he laid it on the table and began to talk on other sub- 
jects. The Cuban was once more questioned concerning the 
strength of the insurgents in the field. Although extremely well 
informed, he placed the figures rather high. They did not cor- 
respond with figures gleaned from sources equally trustworthy. 
He credited Gen. Perico Delgado, in the western province, with 
nearly 2,000 men. Vidal Ducasse, second in command, had been 
killed only ten days before, but his brother still had a hardy force 
which was hanging on the flanks of the Spanish troops and doing 
good service. 

It was Delgado, by the way, to whom Captain Dorst, of the 
American Army, carried a shipload of arms and ammunition. 
Dorst liad a fight with the Spaniards, killing two of them, but 
the expedition was successful in only a limited degree, and was 
hardly satisfactory. The result shows that Delgado had not 
more than a quarter of the force with which he was credited. In- 
deed, it is difficult to see how he could provision even GOO men. 
WeyJer killed every horse, mule, ox, cow, sheep, and hog iu 
Pinar del Rio, and destroyed every hut and hacienda. 

Nothing living was left alive except the buzzards, now styled 
"We}ier"s chickens."' Nothing that could give shelter was 
allowed to stand. In no province on the island was thereconceu- 
ti'ado order more ruthlesslj^ carried out. Fire and sword were 
rampant, and the whole country, aside from the railroad towns, 
became a wilderness. "Even the grass beneath our feet was in- 
surgent," to iise the words of a Spanish staff officer, and Weyler 
would have stamped out vegetation itself if possible. It was a 
horrible state of affairs, even at the outset— so horrible that it 
Bent Maceo across the trocha over a year ago in search of relief. 
It was the ex])edition in which he lost his life. 

As to the Province of Havana the junta representative was 
equally positive and no more specific. He was certain that Gen- 
eral Rodriguez had fully as many men as Delgado. This was un- 
doubtedly true, but their united force was nearer 1 ,200 than 4,000. 
The same state of destitution existed in this province as in Pinar 
del Rio, and it was impossible to subsist a large body of men. 
The most of the patriots in arms here foraged in the markets of 
Havana. Provisions were sent to them regularly and their under- 
ground railroad was as safe and in as active operation as the one 
in use between the North and South before the war. Nestor 
Aranguren had been the lieutenant of General Rodriguez. His 
death, only a fortnight before, ended as romantic an incident as 
the deatli of Major Andre in the Revoluntary war. Colonel Ruiz, 
a Spaiiish officer, visited Aranguren, who was an intimate friend, 
and urged him to accept autonomy and lay down his arms. 
Aranguren warned him against making such propositions when 
they first met. 

The order from Gomez was to shoot anybody who made any 
such proposal. Aranguren carried out these orders to the letter. 



37 

Ruiz was exocnteil within a milo of tho raiiroad bt'twoen Havana 
ami Matanzas. Within a month, liowi'vcr, the Spaniards cn\>- 
tnred a iiej^ro wlio was a trusted servant of Aramcuren. Thoy 
threatened him with death unless he disclosed his master s retreat, 
and pr«)mi6ed him a reward of MO silver dollars if he would ba- 
tray him. Aranuiuren was surprised in a cabin by two Spanish 
re.Lciments in the early morninijf and killed. 

As to the Province of Matanzas, the Cuban at first asserted that 
General Betancourt had an army of 4.0(»() ukmi. ^Vhen told tiiat 
this was ridiculous, he reduced the number to 1.4(ii). It is doubt- 
ful, however, whether tlie General had T(M) men. Betancourt. like 
Arauguren. is a scion of out' of tho first Cuban families. He was 
educated abroad and speaks seven different languages. He i.s 
fully as daring as Aranguren and is said to have made many a 
midnight visit to Matanzas. He probably secured provisions and 
ammunition for his men during these midnight excursions. The 
Si)auish soldiers were nine months in arrears of pay and sold their 
cartridges for cash to any purchaser. 

In the province of Santa Clara General Bermndezwas said to be 
in command. His reputation for ferocity tarnished his reputation 
for bravery. During the Congressional visit two Spanish officers 
sought an interview with a Colonel Nunez, i;nder his command. 
They were surprised liy Bermudez himself, who ordered their im- 
mediate execution. They met their fate bi-avely, and were buried 
at Esperanza on the day the Congressional delegation passed 
through that city. It was said that Bermudez had at least 3,000 
troops under his command. The figures were far too high. He 
probablj' had not one-third of this number. The province of Santa 
Clara was utterly destitute of provisions. The city of Santa Clara 
was supplied by railroad, but the country was ravaged and ruined 
by Spanish guerrillas, who were employed to carry out Weyler's 
orders. Over 7,500 reconcentrados died in the city within four 
months. These figures come from the mayor. 

^n Puerto Principe Gomez himself was located in the mountains 
20 miles from the northern shore. Further south Quintin Bandera 
held mountain sway. Bandera's force was estimated at l.ToO. It 
was far too great an estimate. Gomez him-elf usually had no 
more than ;J00 men with him. The rest of his army was bi'oken 
up into detachments, including Bandera"s troop. They were sta- 
tioned with rare military -skill. It was said that they could be 
concentrated and moved en masse within thirty-six hours. All 
told, the force in the province could not amount to more than 3,r)00 
men. It was reported that Bandera had l)een reduced to the ranks 
by Gomez for issuing a distasteful proclamation to the negroes. 
Like a true soldier, he accepted the situation and won anew the 
rank of brigadier-general within a very few months. 

Last of all. the Province of Santiago was canvassed. Here Ca- 
lixto Garcia has been conducting operations for a long time, and 
he is now in com])lete control with head(iuarters at Bayamo. 
The only cities held by the Spaniards are Holguin. Manzanillo, 
and Santiago de Cuba, Garcia has a fair supply of provisions. 
It was the only province that escaped unscatlied from \Veyler"3 
order. The Cubans control the provincial government and collect 
the taxes. Hundreds of Spanish prisoners are said to 1 e employed 
in the mountains raising cattle and cultivating provisions for 
Garcia's army. The Spanish general, Pando, had been pounding 
away at Cxarcia along the Canto Rivtr for more than six nionlbs. 
but had finally given up the job, and was said to bo in command 



38 

in Cionfuegos. Garcia has a force of 7,500 men, well equipped 
and fairly sui)iilied with ammunition. He has several pieces of 
avlillcry which were used with good effect in the siege of Las 
Tunas. The city was taken by assault and its fortifications de- 
stroyed. 

From this it will be seen that Gomez is in perfect communica- 
tion with every detachment of the Cuban army, and that its entire 
strength on the island is about 15,000 men. This is a far greater 
number than Gomez had when Maceo headed the magnificent 
march to the west. 

Such was a part of the information gleaned from my Cuban 
visitor. It was late in the afternoon when the delegate of the 
.junta left my room. He slipped out quietly and made his exit 
from the hotel by an outlet in the rear. That night I met him on 
the street. He was greatly agitated, and asked what had become 
of the printed proclamation of Gomez. 

" Did you not take it away with you?" I inquired. 

"Never, never," was the reply. "Is it not in your pocket?"' 

"No," was the answer. "It must have been left upon the 
table. Wait one moment and 1 will go and see." 

Back to the hotel I went. There was a score of papers upon the 
table, but the proclamation was not among them. When I re- 
turned and made this re])ort the Cuban blanched with fear. " It 
has been stolen by the attendant of your room,'" said he, " and I 
am lost." 

" Possibly," I replied, "the Senator took it." I made inquiries 
of the Senator, who looked over the papers in his pocket and found 
it. When it was returned to its owner the latter gave a great 
sigh of relief. Before sundown of the succeeding day it was in the 
hands of General Betancourt. 

HEIiOISM OF THE IXSURCEXTS. 

There is a disposition to regard Gomez and his associates as 
little better than bandits, guerrillas, and bushwhackers, but the 
fact is that the Cuban patriots have never b^en reduced to such 
dire distress as were the American patriots at Valley Forge. 
With ample siipplies of provisions, clothing, artillery, ammuni- 
tion, and equipments, Gomez was confident of his abifity to drive 
the Spaniards from the island. His men are well seasoned and 
amenable to discipline, and have never declined a battle with 
Spanish troops on equal terms. 

Garcia has practically held the Province of Santiago for two 
years and defeated every attempt of the enemy to dislodge him. 
His troops are now perched upon the mountains near the city of 
Santiago, awaiting the opportunity for a final swoo]). The Span- 
ish army cooped within that city is as sure to be captured as was 
Cornwallis at Yorktown. The American fleet at Santiago will 
cinch the situation as perfectly as did the fleet of the Count de 
Grasse in the Chesapeake. Gomez has held nearly half of the 
province of Puerto Principe ever since Maceo"s great march to 
the west. Weyler found it impossible to expel him and returned 
to Havana in disgust. Fabius himself never handled his army 
more adroitly in the days of Hannibal. The Cuban Government 
maintained itself in its moimtain capital despite all efforts to dis- 
perse it. 

The ('onfincntal Congress fled from Philadelphia to Annapolis 
in the days of the Revolution, but the Cuban Government main- 
tains itself where it was first established. It is organized on a 
constitutional basis, and its legislative and executive decrees are 



39 

in a lino with all r.publicaTi prt'cedonts. It.-j Pri'siileut. Darloluuie 
Masso, is uiulonbteilly already in i-oiiiiiuuii(.atioii with our Gov- 
tTinnent. Gomez derives liis authority as i^encral tlio same im 
Nelson A. Miles gets his autliority here and is fully asanienahlc to 
the law. In no ease has the military authority ever refuseil to 
bow to the will of the civil government, (.obedience to the law is 
ns stron.Lrly ingrained in the Cuban army as in the American 
Army. Its losses have been terrific, but the patriotic tiro burns 
as brightly as ever in the liearts of those who survive. 

If we.iudge of the future by the past, there is no (iui:'stion of 
the ability and willingness of the i)atriots to materially aid our 
forces in their cami)aign of liberation. They are strengthened iu 
this desire by the official assurance of the President and of Con- 
gress that it is a campaign of liberation, and not one of annexa- 
tian, as the Spaniards assert. The history of the w;'.r in Cu])a luia 
never been written. The American people know as little about it 
as they knew of the wholesale starvation of tlie recnnceiitrados 
four months ago. I*: exists in fragments and fag-ends, to be 
gathered by some future foreign historian, as Botta gathered the 
historical debris of the American Revolution. 

The revolution began on February 2i, 189"). The first ob.iect of 
IMartinez Campos was to isolate it to the i)rovince of Santiago. 
On May 1 Gomez had COO soldiers, mostly cavalry. They were 
stationed at Mejorana, about ~~) miles from the city of Santiago. 
With :J00 of these soldiers, accompanied by Jose Marti, he started 
for Puerto Principe to spread the insurrection. INIaceo was left 
behind with 400 mounted troops. He broke for Hol-guin, one of 
the principal cities of Santiago, 20 miles from the northern coast. 
The Spaniards there wei'e thrown into a panic. They brought to 
fheir aid the garrison of Las Tunas, 40 miles to the Avest. This 
was what Maceo wanted. It left the way open to Gomez and his 
troopers. Marti was killed in a little tight at Dos Rios and Gomez 
passed safely into Puerto Principe. 

Maceo promptly withdrew from Holguin and marched back to 
Cauto Abajo. about 15 miles northwest of Mejorana. About this 
time Martinez Campos aiTived at Manzanilio, 30 miles southwest of 
Bayamo. Gu July 12 he began his fan:ous march to Bayamo. 
Maceo on July H had heard that Campos was expected. Bayamo 
is at least 70 miles west of Cauto Abajo. With Goulet, Masso, 
Rabi, and Guerra, Maceo advanced toward Bayamo. He had 
about 1,200 men, the cavalry being armed with machetes and the 
infantry with everything that could be found in the shape of a 
shooting iron. With these men Maceo waylaid Campos at Pera- 
lejo. The Spanish General Santocildes was killed and Campos 
escaped to Bayamo without even an escort, the Spanish force 
being utterly routed. Campos concentrated his forces, returned 
to Manzanilio. and went back to Havana. 

Meantime Gomez set Camaguey allame with insurrection. A 
constituent assembly was called, representing every province, and 
a civil government established. Gomez was made commander in 
chief and Maceo lieutenant-general. The mulatto general had 
gone back to Banabacoa, M miles southeast of Cauto Abajo. 
While here ho received orders from Gomez to organize a column 
for the invasion of the western part of the island. Havana was 
nearl}' .")00 miles away. On receiving these orders. Macro marched 
to Baragua, 10 miles north of Cauto Abajo. There he was joined 
by Quintin Bandera and Luis Feria. incr'-asing his army to l.'Jnu 
men, of which 700 were cavalry, (teneral (iomez :irri\e 1 at Ba- 



40 

ragna on October 11. On October 22 the invading column began 
its march, under the direct command of Maceo. On November 1 
it was joined by oUO cavalry under Generals Miro and Santana. 

All tills time Campos was making preparations anew to squelch 
the insurrection. The Spanish official figures credit him with 
172, 29.'} men. Add to these 50,000 Spanish volunteers recruited in 
Cuba and 10,000 regulars newly arrived, and his total force, al- 
lowing for losses", was not below 200,000. Cami^os made the mis- 
take of underestimating the strength of the i)atriot3. He looked 
upon them as a lot of bushwhackers and was entirely unaware of 
their plans. The intention was to break into Puerto Principe, 
south of Las Tunas. On November .1 scouts reported 3,000 Span- 
iards awaiting the advancing column, 12 miles southeast of Las 
Tunas. 

Maceo sent General Capote, with 300 men, to make a feint on 
that city. It was masterful strategy. The Spanish column tore 
back to the city to defend it, and Maceo's troops rushed through 
the gap. On November 7 Maceo entered Puerto Principe. Gomez 
left the column with a small escort, promising to rejoin it with 
rcenforccments within a month. The insurrection was spreading, 
and the Spanish troops, who had been flanked at Las Tunas, were 
on Maceo's trail. General Echague, who commanded the pur- 
suers, followed Maceos column over a hundred miles, but finally 
gave it up after numerous skirmishes and went down to the Carib- 
bean coast, to Santa Cruz del Sur. 

jSIaceo's forces grew in numbers as he advanced into the more 
thickly populated country. By the end of November he had left 
the city of Puerto Principe on his right. The eastern trocha was 
only GO miles away. This had been constructed in the ten-years 
war and had been strengthened by Campos. The ditch ran from 
Moron, on the northern coast, to Jucaro, on the Caribbean shore. 
By this time Campos was fully awake. He had 16,000 troops along 
this trocha, with a chain of blockhouses, a railroad, a telegraph 
line, and ironclad cars. Echague and his troops had been brought 
from Santa Cruz del Sur by steamer, and Avere among the 16.000 
now confronting the wily mulatto. At o'clock on the morning 
of November 20 Maceo broke from the woods at Ciego d'Avila, 12 
miles north of Jucaro, swerved to the right, and crossed the trocha 
between two small forts. Before the Ciego gan-ison was awake 
he had pried up the rails, cut the wires, and was sweeping west- 
ward like a prairie fire. 

Thus the second plan of Campos to head off the insurrection 
failed. The march had been through a land of forests and fields, 
and the roads were little better than mountain paths. On the day 
that Maceo passed the trocha Gomez joined him with General 
Sanchez and General Roloff. For two days the troops remained 
in camp. It was the first rest they had taken since the start. 
Havana was still nearly 300 miles away. Terrible work was be- 
fore them. They were about to enter a province gridironed with 
railways and defended by 80,000 Spanish troops. The column had 
increased until it numbered 5,000 men. 

On December 2 they broke camp at dawn. Before 8 o'clock the 
road was disputed. Two scjuadrons of cavalry swept upon the 
Spanish army under Suarez Valdez, while Maceo passed his flank 
and made for the boundary line between Puerto Principe and 
Santa Clara. After this fight the infantry and cavalry under 
Maceo separated, Qnintin IJandera, with 1 ,000 infantry, was sent 
into the valley of the Trinidad for recruits. He knew the country 
5.513 



41 

thoronghly. Within ten weeks he rejoined Mnceo's column near 
Havana with 1,000 well diillod and fairly armed patriots. 

On December ;] Macoo's eoliimn crossed the JntiLionico and en- 
tered Santa Clara. Gomez led the advance. Ho was ambushed 
by a Spanish column of bOO men. under Colonel Segura. M.iceo, 
hearing the firing, charged the Spaniards in the rear, fighting 
hand to hand over brush an<l fallen logs. Segura waaroutud, and 
the Cubans captured many arms and much ammunition. 

By this time Havana began to exhibit some anxiety. Campos 
reassured its citizens by saying that he had planted a rat trap for 
Maceo. He wanted the Cuban column to enter a triangle marked 
by the cities of Sagua. Colon, and Cienfuegos. when ho would 
surely annihilate it. These cities were crowded with li-oops and 
the intervening country cobwebbed with railroads. Maceo and 
Gomez dashed into the rat trap with their usual fury, swerving 
north and south, and making mysterious curves and zigzags. At 
Mai Tiempo on December 10 the 4,o00 Cubans struck a large body 
of Spaniards in an immense guava plantation. 

The Spaniards were commanded by Colontl Molina, now mili- 
tary governor of Matanzas. Maceo and Gomez promptly charged 
them, swinging down into a railroad cut and hacking c'own a 
wire fence. Molina three times formed a hollow square, but each 
time the square was broken by the Cuban cavalry, and the Span- 
iards finally scattered among the gixava bushes and sugar cane, 
losing their regimental colors, 140 rifles, and 10,000 cartridges. 
Two hours later Maceo charged a strong Spanish column criming 
to the relief of Molina. This was promptly smashed, and had no 
sooner gone to pieces than a third column was encountered. This 
was dispersed with ease, the Spaniards flying in all directions. 
Over 8.000 Spanish troops were in these three columns. 

Havana was only 130 miles away, but between it and the Cu- 
bans were 80,000 Spaniards under command of Campos. Tlie 
most of these were infantry. The Spanish cavalry was worth- 
less, and Campos had more field artillery than he could use. The 
Cuban general, Lacret, made a dash into the heart of Matanzas, 
cutting railways and burning stations. Gomez and Maceo moved 
into tiie sugar plantations and crossed the River Anabana into 
Matanzas. On December 21 they came upon Suarez Valdez like 
a thunderclap. He fled precipitately. At midnight Maceo camped 
at Santa Elena. In the gray of the morn he discovered a Spanish 
column in a grove of palms near by and quickly routed it. 

Then came the most brilliant days in the history of Cuba. 
Gomez and Maceo were welL within the triangle. Campos tried 
to spring his rat trap. He had gathered his troops at Colon to 
strike a decisive blow, but Maceo moved like a meteor. At mid- 
night of December 22 Maceo camped within 2 miles of Colon, 
and Campos was sure of trapping him in the morning, but the 
Cuban column faded with the stars. Campos was fooled as 
"Washington fooled Cornwallis at Trenton. Zigzag strategy was 
again brought into play. Carefully and stealthily Maceo threaded 
his way through the sugar fields in the dusk of the morn until 
the main road was reached, when the column once more si)urred 
to the west. Campos was dumfounded, but acted with surprising 
energy. The rat trap was still open. 

Telegrams to Havana and Matanzas set his whole army in mo- 
tion by rail. His 7,000 troops at Colon were sent to Coliseo on the 
trains, where he again lay en perdu, awaiting Cuba's matchless 
chieftain. Then a new and porteutious feature of the war sent a 



42 

cokl cliill thrui;gh his spinal marrow. A pillar of smoke arose in 
the south, and then another in the east, and a third in the west, 
and a fourth in the north, nntil the sun was blotted from the 
heavens. The sugar plantations were aflame. Meantime Gomez 
swept down iipon Roque, while Maceo dashed for Coliseo. At 
Roque Gomez tapped the telegraph, which disclosed the concen- 
tration of the Spanish troops and laid bare the plans of Campos. 
The wires were cut and the rails were displaced, and tlie concen- 
tration of 40,001) troops was paralyzed. The trap remained un- 
sprung. 

Campos sweated with agony, but still retained his presence of 
mind. Maceo was ad\-ancing in five parallel columns. The mid- 
dle column was ambuscaded by Campos in a sugar plantation. 
The generals were not 300 feet apart. The mulatto patriot de- 
ployed to the right and loft and answered the Spanish fire. Two 
great wings of 4,000 men were enveloping him. His matchless 
genius arose to the situation. He dispatched aids to his flanking 
columns with orders that .spoke for themselves. Within twenty- 
five minutes the city of Coliseo was in flames and the village of 
Sumidero was ablaze. One was to the east and the other to the 
west of Campos. 

Meantime Maceo himself set the cane on fire in the immediate 
front of the Captain-General. Campos became hopelessly involved 
between three lines of flames. He sounded a retreat and put for 
Matanzas, fancying that it was Maceo"s intention to capture that 
city. The victorious Cubans swept westward like avenging spirits, 
while clouds of smoke arising from a hundred bxirning plantations 
l)ewildered the Spaniards and left Campos himself dazed and ap- 
l)arently unconscious of what had struck him. 

Tiien Maceo appeared at the gates of Havana. It was Christ- 
mas week. He had been nine weeks in the saddle. He maintained 
his position in front of Havana four months, while the whole 
western end of the island was wrapped in a pall of smoke, and 
$fi0.000,000 in property went to ashes. Campos never recovered 
his footing and was recalled to Spain. And this is only one chap- 
ter, but a glorious chapter, in the history of the efforts of the 
patriots to give the blessings of freedom to Cuba. 

era LAST SUNDAY IX C'l'BA. 

It was March 13, our last Sunday in Cuba. The day was spent 
in Matanzas, a city of 48,000 inhabitants. There was not a fleck 
in the sky, A cool breeze swept over the bay, tempering the heat 
of the sun. A blue haze veiled the distant mountains and brought 
vividly to mind the Blue Ridge of Virginia. Standing near a 
Spanish blockhouse on a height above the city, the lovely valley 
of the Yumuri lay below us on the left of the ridge, dotted with 
palms, seamed with silvery streams, and carpeted with the rich- 
est vegetation of the island. On the left extended the San Juan 
Valley, not so picturesque, but equally as fertile, stretching to 
the west until lost in tropical thickets, lurking places of Cuban 
l^atriots. 

No forests were to be seen. The moiintains are covered with 
scrub, so thick that it can be penetrated only by the use of a 
machete. It was a perfect spring day — like a day in June in New 
England. But the air was not filled with melody, and there were 
few signs of insect life. The mellow note of the robin was not 
heard, nor the cry of the catbird. Even the mocking bird and the 
blackbird were missing, and there were no shrill screechings from 
■paroquets. No qiiail, no finches, no woodpeckers, no cardinals, 
:.-4; 



43 

no orioles, not oven n srounJ chippN. The onlv buds t.i he siH'n 
\Yore lazy bu/.zartls ami littK' doves not larger than wn-nn. The 
Spanish soldiurs were trajjpintf the doves and potting thiir tiuy 
bodies in stows, seasonod with ^arlii- and swett p'j)pfrH. 

Near by stood a stone church, surrounded by a low wall of ma- 
sonry. It was surmounted by a ^ilt cross and was known as tho 
Church of the Black Virgin. The doors stood witlo oi»cn, but 
there were no services and no rectory nor outbuildin^js. The'altur 
was covered with soashells, and an image of the Bhick Virgin ap- 
peared above it in an artificial grotto, crucifix in hand. The 
church was built in the last century by a Spaiiisli grandeo to com- 
memorate some momentous event in the history of his fanuly. 
The bell in the belfry was cast over two hundred years ago. 
Services were held only twice a year. The yard was shadeil by a 
row of Spanish oaks, natives of the Balearic Islands. Catalan 
troops were quartered in the yard and evidently inbmde 1 to cut 
away the oaks, make embrasures in the walls, and use the place 
as a redoubt in case of an assault on the city. It completely com- 
manded both town and harbor. 

Standing on the wall and gazing to the southeast, a railroad 
train pulling out for Santa Clara, Sagua la Grande, and Cienfue- 
gos was in full viev,-. A trail of steam marked its windings among 
the blockhouses until lost to sight in the abandoned plantations 
on the other side of the harbor. The train was hardly out of sight 
before two companies of Spanish troopers entered the city not far 
from the railr< ad station. They came from the direction of 
Guanabana and left a cloud of dust behind them. It was after- 
wards ascertained that they had had a little brush with Betan- 
courfs men near La Vieja, 5 miles southwest of Guanabana. 
Viewed from the Church of the Black Virgin they looked like a 
detachment from the bodyguard of the Queen of Liliput. They 
rode over the stone bridge crossing the San Juan, and disappeared 
in the narrow streets of the city. 

Below the church on the right of the road an exquisite resi- 
dence attracted attention. Its white walls gleamed in the sunlight 
from an embowerment of orange trees and sapodillas. Palms 
and oleanders shaded the iimer court, and its front was aflamo 
with the royal purple of the hilnsous. The guardia civil in our 
entourage, finding that one of the party spoke Spanish, becauio 
extremely talkative. The mansion, he said, was owned by a 
sugar planter, now in Europe. It was one of the finest residences 
in the province. Certainly no more sightly and healthy spot 
could he found. It overlooked the bay and the city, and it was 
fanned by cool sea breezes. 

The rarest tropical fruits were propagated on its gronnds. and 
it contained the richest furniture luid an art gallery valued at a 
high figure. Its owner had abandoned the island in disgu•^t. His 
sugar i«lantations had been destroyed and an income among the 
hundreds of thousands sent skvward in smoke and fianie. Ihtstily 
gathering what was left, and thankful for thesaf»ty of his family, 
he had sought a peaceful retreat across the water, leaving all ho 
possessed in Cuba to be sold. Some of his plantations had brought 
only §G an acre. Three thousand acres of the finest soil for to- 
bacco had brought only .$11,000. Tho Matanzas mansion was ii\y- 
Bolutely valueless. He could not get even an ofifer for it. In tho 
opinion of the guardui civil, an offer of $4,500 would be eagerly 
accepted. , ■ , , 

A moment afterwards he was relating a queer story, which ho 

3543 



44 

said was rife among the Spanish residents of Matanzas. They 
believed that Henry M. Flagler, of New York, had been visiting 
the city incognito, and had secured options on many valuable 
pieces of property therein, with a view to making it a great winter 
resort for Americans. JNlatanzas was nearer to the terminus of his 
railroad in Florida than Havana, certainly not more than fifteen 
hours' sail. Its beauty, salubrity, pure water, fruits, and rail- 
road connections would make it far more desirable than Nassau, 
and the ex]ienditure of two or three millions of dollars in improve- 
ments would eventually piit it on a par with Nice and Riviera and 
make it a central winter watering place for the world. 

This story passed current in Matanzas. The Spaniards regarded 
it as proof positive that the United States intended to annex 
Cuba, and used it as a lever to force those with patriotic leanings 
into the support of the new autonomic government. Meantime, 
Flagler himself was at St. Augustine, apprehensive lest a declara- 
tion of war should send a Spanish fleet to ravish the coast of 
Florida, and the Ponciana, Palm Beach, and Royal Palm marvels 
be leveled to the ground. Within two weeks afterwards the Sec- 
retary of War was strengthening the defenses of St. Augustine 
and sending additional comijanies of artillery to man the new 
guns. 

The return to town was made after a final view of the famed 
Valley of the Yumuri. Near the gorge where the stream breaks 
from the valley into Matanzas Bay there were signs of cultiva- 
tion. Two men were hoeing near the river bank. A field glass 
disclosed their color, but failed to record the crop they were cul- 
tivating. No one was allowed to till any ground outside the city /" 
except by order from General Molina, and these were the only 
men handling a hoe that had been seen since our entry into Cuba. 
The reconcentrados use their .skeleton fingers and sticks in plant- 
ing tomato vines between their squalid huts, and thank God that 
they are allowed even this poor privilege. 

FKTE UAY IX MATANZAS. 

Down the heights rolled the volante over a winding road, the 
sun growing hotter every minute. We stopped to inspect a small 
camp of reconcentrados. The palm-leaf huts were black with 
age and covered with dust. They were built in the shape of an 
inverted Y, without doors, and open front and rear. It was a 
camp of starving children, half naked, and squalid be3'ond belief. 
Some were mere skeletons; others were swollen in the body and 
limbs, dropsical affections, caused by want of proper food. On 
entering the camp the palms rustled as scores of chameleons 
darted uj) the huts, and a hundred of the child sufferers gathered 
aroTind the visitors, surveying them mournfully and extending 
their tiny hands. Only the most active were among the group, 
each hut containing some who were unable to arise, and who lay 
upon the ground, open-eyed, awaiting their fate in patient resig- 
naUon. 

The mothers were either at the hospitals or ranging the streets 
of the city seeking sustenance. The heat of the sun was intense. 
Not a breath of air was stirring. The hot air arose from the hot 
road and fairly quivered in the hot sky. At the heels of the 
strangers were the children, heading them off at every turn, and 
pleading for alms. Among thom was a little blonde, neatly 
dressed, and apparently in perfect health. She wore a gold chain 
around her neck, and was as pretty as an ideal picture, but wa.s 
as persistent in her cries for help as those on the last verge of 



P 



45 

starvation. Before the phenomenon could bo explained, n. visitor 
throw two djzen coppers into tho group. Tliey disappeared liko 
corn thrown among famished chickens. In an instant the rash 
philantiiropist was surrounded and fairly mobhed. Ho literally 
had to light his way to his volante, and the party continued iUi 
journ^'V iluwn tho hill. 

In the outskirts of the citj', while passing a beautiful residence 
of ^loorish architecture, there was a far more attractive develop- 
ment. From the inner court trooped four ladies in Spanish at- 
tire, wearing black silk masks. They ranged theiuf^elves upon 
the walk and coiuettishly threw kisses at tho strangers. To say 
that the party was astouislied does not cover the situation; they 
were astounded. In an instiint, however, one of them politely re- 
moved his hat, and the others followed suit. The ladies shouted 
ill silvery tones, "Biienas Americanos." The carriage rolled on, 
and in front of a rich mansion on the opposite side of the street 
there was a similar performance. 

Within ten minutes the streets were filled with ladies en 
masque. All wore the masks so familiar on harlequins in panto- 
mimes. It was about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. As tlio party 
approached the hotel barbaric music was heard. It had a weird 
sound— something like tho drumming of Sioux Indians before 
roasting a captive. On alighting at tho hotel the unearthly music 
redoubled in volume and a motley procession turned tlie corner. 
All the saloons were open and around the tables sat Spanish offi- 
cers and civilians drinking light wines and smoking cigarettes. 
The streets were filled with barking dogs and shouting children 
carrying wooden rattles. At the head of the procession marched 
a group of gigantic negroes, bearing aloft iimiges, among which 
was a representation of the Black Virgin. 

Tho music was monotonous and horribly discordant, but it had 
a barbaric rhythm, and to this rhythm tlie negroes kept step. 
They beat the ground with their heels and acted liko Buffalo Bills 
Indians in a ghost dance. Some were scantily arrayed, and their 
actions savored more of the voodoo than any other ceremony. 
Following this advance guard were a hundred or more men and 
women arrayed in variegated costumes, all wearing black silk 
masks. All were shouting and singing and some dancing a la 
Egyptienne. It was a heterogeneous crowd with no regard for 
order and regardless of comment. A few overenthused would 
leave the procession and dance around and embrace spectators on 
the street. 

The reconcentrados shrank into the doorways and side streets 
as the noisy column swept past them. For once their plaintive 
ci'ies were stilled, and they furtively watched the surging mob. 
There were horns in the crowd and all sorts of strange noises. 
As the day died out in the gleam of tho electric lights the tumult 
increased. By midnight there was a regular saturnalia. Every- 
body was riotously merry. The i)ro(ession kept in motion, and 
tiie music became so barbaric that even tho dogs howled in i)ro- 
test. The parks and pla/.as were alive with frivolity. Everybody 
seemed to be having a great time. The mas(iueraders were sport- 
ive and accosted each other in terms more affectionate than pol- 
ished. At times they whirled in waltzes under the palms and 
anon joined hands and sang loudly under the electric lights. 

Whenever the procession reappeared all greeted it with loud 
cheers and joined in the singing. The gigantic negroes stuck to 
their work manfully, and the dogs moaned with agony as the music 
3513 



46 

increasea in power. The saloons were filled to overflowing and 
the consumption of light wines was enormous. With all the de- 
lirium and paroxysms there was no intoxication. Even after mid- 
night a steady stream of carriages poured along the streets filled 
with masked ladies and girls, hilarious and joyful, who exchanged 
short comments with pedestrians and at times sent kisses right 
and left from the tips of tlieir fingers. Not until near daylight 
did Ihe noisy scenes subside. The American visitors sought their 
beds amid the turbulence, and went to sleep undisturbed l>yeitlier 
the tooting of horns or the tintinnabulation of bells. It had been 
fete dav in Matanzas. Its citizens had been honoring the natal 
day of "their patron saint. Whether the Black Virgin was the 
patron saint or not, it was evident that she was so regarded by 
the negroes. 

A DAY ON THE TRAIN". 

On Monday. Mcirch 14, I traveled from Matanzas to Sagua la 
Grande. In the first-class car there were half a dozen Spanish 
officers, the mayor of Santa Clai-a, a friar, and two of Clara Bar- 
ton's relief expedition on their v.-ay to Sagua la Grande and Cien- 
fuegos. The palace car had cane seats, an unswept floor, and 
windows washed only in the rainy season. Tliere was no drinking 
water, there were no racks, and no other conveniences. Every- 
body smoked, although ladies occupied seats in the car. 

The Americans alone carried grips, and the Spanish officers 
filled the vacant seats with swords tied in buckskin bags, canes, 
kiggage rolled in red blankets well strapped, and lunch baskets. 
They chatted like magpies, but lacked politeness; for when ladies 
entered the car at way stations tliey were left to shift for them- 
selves in a search for seats, no one offering to remove the luggage, 
swords, and baskets of the officers. The day was hot, the sun 
scorching, and the interior of the car suffocating. All the win- 
dows were open, and the passengers were showered with cinders. 

My colleague on the journey wore a silk hat and a four-in-hand 
tie, and carried a silk umbrella. The hat attracted more atten- 
tion than the Representative himself, and everybody regarded the 
umbrella with astonishment, as no rain had fallen since October. 

Wherever my colleague went he created a sensation. If ho 
alighted at a way station, the reconcentrados stopped their plain- 
tive pleadings as he approached and gazed at the tile as though 
overcome with awe. Even the friar in the car. who wore a hat 
that looked as though it jnight have been made in the days of Gil 
Bias, never took his eyes from the Congressman's hat. It had a 
fascination for him that seemed overwhelming. 

The American statesman, however, seemed to be absolutely un- 
aware of the stir created by the hat. At times he smoothed the 
fur with a white silk handkerchief, while the little negro porters 
regarded him in open-mouthed wonderment and a corporal's guard 
of Castilian infantry ran out of their ironclad car to view the un- 
wonted sight. Nor did his umbrella remain inconspicuous. It 
got mixed\ip with the sabers of the Spanish officials, dropped to 
the floor every half hour, and finally tripped the Congressman 
himself, nearly tin-owing him from the train. The monk evi- 
dently considered it a fit traveling companion for the hat. 

He fanned himself for an hour or more and dropped asleep. He 
awoke as the train stopped at Liinonar. Here a gigantic negro, half 
naked, entered the car and began to sell tickets in the Havana lot- 
tery. The alcalde of Santa Clara was his first customer, and the 
military men were eager purchasers. Last of all came the padre. 

3543 



•17 

He selected Ins ticket with much care, pnitl fur it in jmycr money, 
Bomethuji? liko the ohl American postal currency, drevr out a book 
of in-ayers in Latin, whispered langiiidly over it for live minutes, 
and atcain fell asleep. 

At Jovellanos the Spanish fjuard on the platform of the depot 
came to an order arms as tlio passen^^ers descended from the 
train. The Americans fancied that an arrest was about to be 
made, but the ^uard remained as motionless as statues, wliilo the 
corjoral in cummand whirled himself- amonj? the crowd and 
finally delivered a telegram to an ofticer, who did nut trouble him- 
self to return his salute. Jovellanos was a lively place, and the 
hackuu'U were as noisy and demonstrative as tlnse in a New 
England town. Against the side of the depot, fronting the plat- 
form, there was a bar '20 feet long. It was (luickly besieged, and 
the demand for lemonade, limewater, and light wines was im- 
mense. 

The tumblers used in concocting lemonade would shame a weiss- 
beer glass. They held nearly a quart, but it was circus lemon- 
ade, circumscribed as to ice. Behind the bar there was a furmi- 
dable array of bottles on a dozen shelves that would tempt the ap- 
petite of a connoisseur in wines. There was Chateau Y(iuem of 
various ages, Chateau Margaux, Perez sherry, old port, and 3Ia- 
deira— almost everything, in fact, outside of blue seal royal 
.Tohanuesburger; but the gem of the collection was old Otard 
brandy, imrporting to have been made in 180 ), and retailed at ■^l 
a bottle in silver. When the train from Cardenas arrived and was 
joined by one from Guines, ou the Piiiar del Rio road, the crush 
on the platform was ter\-ific. 

The reconcentrados shrank from the crowd, fearing an applica- 
tion of the canes of the Spanish officers. Aside from this, the al- 
calde of the city was present, wielding a gold-tipped baton of 
el)ony. his insignia of office, and directing the guardia civile to 
keep the starving women and children at a distance. He was an 
appointee of the new autonomist cabinet, and he greeted the mayor 
of Santa Clara with true official courtesy. They di-ank together 
with much unction, and finally each paid for his own drink. 

As the train moved out the famished Cubans lined the track be- 
yond the station, pleading mutely but pitifully for food. Not 
long afterwards a ruined sugar plantation was passed. The black- 
ened chimneys stood near the track, surrounded by a fence of 
di-iven jnles, fashioned from royal palms. Under the action of 
the sun the piles had become as white as snow. They looked as 
though they had had a coat of whitewash. The whole country 
was a desolate waste, barring a wild, tropical outgrowth. There 
were hedges of Spanish I)ayonets and roadways .^liaded for miles 
by lofty palms, but no signs of cultivation. 

Neither hut nor hacienda was to be seen, and no living animal. 
Even the birds had left the country, and where the soil was not 
blackened by lire it was lle;ked by the moving shadows of buz- 
zards on the wing. The only evidences of occupation were the 
Spanish blockhouses that appeared on nearly every elevation. To 
the south arose the blue range of the Quimbambas, iiatcheil with 
light-gray chaparral, at the foot of which the daring Maceo turned 
the flank of Martinez Campos less than three years ago. The 
counti'y was rolling and seamed with small streams of running 
water. 

As the train approached the town of Cervantes the ] adro 
aroused himself from his lethargy, closed his Latin prayer book. 



48 

and lighted a cigarette. Later on he opened a lunch basket and 
tilled the car with the flavor of cold boiled ham. He had bought 
.sapadilloes, pomegi-anates, and pawpaw.s at Jovellanos, and he 
regaled himself thoroughly b.v drinking a pint of claret snugly 
ensconced among the goodies in the basket. While at Cervantes 
a boy came up to the car, offering for sale a string of tiny flutter- 
ing "birds. Tiieir legs were tied and they were no larger than 
wrens. 

I leaned out of the window and bought the string for a peseta. 
The Ijirds resembled the mourning doves so common in Florida, 
although they were much smaller. They struggled for freedom 
as they lay in my lap and savagely pecked at my fingers. There 
were at least a dozen of them. I drew out my pocketknife and 
tried to liberate them, but their legs and feet were so closely inter- 
woven that the knife was useless. Thereupon I summoned' all my 
patience and deliberateh' began to untie the twine. The Spanish 
officers watched my movements with evident interest. 

Within twenty minutes one of the tiny captives was free. As 
he darted over the priest's hat and out of the door, I .shouted, "Go 
to Gomez." The officers looked glum. They evidently under- 
stood the words and were in no laughable mood. Each bird was 
tied separately and all were knotted together with the same cord. 
Five minutes elapsed before the second victim was released. ' ' Go 
to Garcia! " I shouted, and it shot out of an open window before 
the faces of the officials of the Queen Regent. One young lieu- 
tenant in a rich uniform smiled, and the mayor of Santa Clara 
laughed outright, but the older officers moved uneasily in their 
seats and looked very grave. A third bird was released, with in- 
structions to "Go to Bermudez." No one smiled. 

I had unconsciously touched an exceedingly sensitive military 
nerve, and a "carraho," vengefully uttered, indicated that I was 
treading on dangerous ground. 

It was a warning heeded by the interpreter, who was seated at 
my side. In a low tone he said that Eermudez was raiding Santa 
Clara, and that he had recently executed a Spanish colonel who had 
tried to seduce him from his allegiance to the Cuban Republic. In- 
dignation blazed from the eyes of the officers, who awaited the 
flight of the fourth captive. It was freed in silence, and remained 
in the car some time before it found its way to the outer world. 
The Spaniards were still in an ill mood, and furtively watched 
every movement. As the bonds of the last bird were loosed and 
it wafted Itself into the sunshine the train entered Colon. Most 
of the officers were at their journey's end. but the war cloud was 
not dispelled. Enough remained to chill the atmosphere of good- 
fellowshi]). 

The friar resumed his Latin breviary, and the new military pas- 
sengers were quickly informed of what had happened. I lighted 
a cigar and listened to the interpreter "s reminiscences of the ten 
j'ears' war until the bovmdary line was crossed and the train 
stopped at Mordazo. It was a small town, but death was in the 
air. Tlic reconcentrados were absohately without food or shelter 
and were dying like sheep in a rinderpest. A few lay in the hot 
sun, starving and naked, awaiting the end in utter despair. 

At o o'clock Santo Domingo was reached. It was a little place 
of 800 inhabitants, where 2,700 victims of Weyler's brutality had 
died within three months. Here the destination of the party was 
changed. 

A dispatch from Sagua was received announcing the sudden 



40 

w!l!, \ii^^^ Z''^^- *"' ^"***"' THrH-T... I?,.r ^r^nth t.^k iw to 

at the statun .., frl.^ 

Clara, ami a tl.ir.l ^,, ' ," ^''V** 

the wroiiK' train, it wns n. !/ 

Coveml my inist.ik. . l mj : 

iKm.l. ami lua.l- a 1 r.-ak f..r ll.e .^..^ua l.aii,. i.n. »« 

uisjijijK'arijiir aiouinl « iurv«», li.Hvirsr H fr-nl i.f \,]'\, 

huui it. In an m ■ ..,.,.- 

tion. Here 1 \va> ,.y 

town, unable to n. „ 

stand others. I feit i * 

milf-s from any oaMH. N ^i 

of EnglK.h. All I conM ..;u wa. " .-«KUa.- .^ ,..„tci 

Uu- utket ajft-nt. ami .^hook hib hoa«l. All the ; ; u'onu 

iiml th.-re were none t.. follow tlieju until the ^i.r, . , .iiuj,' thiy' 
ih.re was no railroad .norvice at ni;;lit Ucaube ..f tho activitv of 
the insurjfeutii. ' 

While Rt'indinf,' absorliod in h .luiMnlnrv. u rer..nrentra<lo atn 
pe.irid before me. He was ^'aiint and tiiin. I»ui his ra;;K"d rai- 
m nt was ckan. He divine.! tlie situition like a ffahh. Pointinjj 
to tlie nurth.'iist. he imitated the puninR of a hKouio ive and 

plated til' • of his ri«ht liand in the imlin oi his loft. I 

to^K "i^- nain had stupi ,-,1 .,r..un<l il,.- curve, and the 

monceii; ,n to run up tlie traik in the hot sunliKlit I 

followed hau at a dead jump. The rear of the train wa> .juickly 
in si^'ht. It had stoppe.! nt a ^frade croBsinj,' a (luarler of a iiiiiu 
away. B.fore I eonld reach it it was oil aynin. I waved my 
hat. but there wa.s no re!<|M(j)8e. 

There was a wine shop filh-d with Spani.-h .soldiers at the jjrado 
crossing. They re,'arded nie with much . uriosit v as I entered the 
shoj). VVavinu' my hand towanl them. I shout.-d ' Vinos! " and 
silently invited them to drink. They eau' rly accept e<l the invita- 
tion, and halt a dozen bottl(>8 of liyht wine were plac«<l on the 
t;ibles. The soldiers were (iallotfos. Thev Hvmpathi/.ed with me. 
but were utterly unable to Rive me any information. Mcnttmo 
my interjireter apiK-are^l. .Mi.ssiu;; me, h«- had sprun;: Irom tho 
train.andhadconieba. ktosjH'iid theni^;ht with me. HereiK.rt- d 
that the lonductor wjls about to hold tlie train when h«' saw mo 
rnnnint; toward it. but tlie Siiunish ofticers interf.-riHl. They 
had not forgotten the liberation of the birds. "Let hbn goto 
Gomez!' and "Let him go to Ik-rmudez! ' thev cri.-d. They 
•dluded to me a> an •American i>ig." an<l saiil that the w.ilking 
to.Sagua la Uratide w.LH g.MMl. Tiie interpret^-r warne.l the .on- 
ductor that h.- wotild have to return wiieii the tram reached 
Sagiia. as tlu- In-'at. d pa^.^M-nger was a Fedt-ral d<'puty. an>l the 
Spanish oflicers roarer! with lauKhter. The conductor refustnl to 
stop, and the train hjipcI on. 

After a p.ir' ' Mth the (Jalle-os. the int< : 1 my- 

srlf hold a con r. A dittpatch wa" wnt t :; irk<r 

atSaguala<ii ..... rming hiin that 1 ) ' ■ , in.- train 

and would come up to >agua on tin- foil. .\ Tli. n tlio 

mayor wiLs w.ui:ht. He kejit theonly drug • town, and 

received his visitors ratiiei coldly ' We leii imn and ent«-red a 
little restaurant on the corner. It wa« reeking with garlic and 
tlie fare V. ' ' ! but the proprietor w;i« urbane ami attentivw 
and the \\ • nt. 

After il ; .-.ought »i..- ..r,..,» <•..,.,. ,r,i, for hnlging. Aa 



:}.^'<»Kr o^ 



Ifl" ^^ 




50 

we were crossing the plaza toward the cathedral, the mayor ap- 
peared with his baton of office and urj^ed us not to go near the 
priest. He said that the paflre was a bitter Spaniard and that we 
would bt" driven from his door with contempt. 1. however, per- 
sisted, and was received with xha most cordial hospitality. While 
conversing with the priest the station agent arrived with a dis- 
patch announcing that a special train had left Sagua in search 
of the lost Federal deputy. At the same moment the whstle of 
the locomotive was heard. The priest parted with his visitors 
apparently with sincere regret. We boarded the train, sainted 
the chagrined conductor, and arrived at tSagua at dark. There 
Consul Barker warmly greeted us and conducted us to the hotel, 
amid hundreds of starving reconcentrados. Two days afterwards 
we received a health certificate from the health officer at Havana, 
departed on a New Orleans steamer, and landed at Key West the 
next morning, thanking God that we were once again under the 
Stars and Stripes. . „ ^, ^ 

These, Mr. Chairman, are a few of the experiences of the Con- 
gres.sioual delegation that visited Cuba in March. I have not 
dwelt upon the number of reconcentrados who were starved to 
death, because these were fully detailed in the statements of the 
visiting Senators, and I fully agree with them. At the leiist. over 
200,000 persons had died of starvation under the Weyler order 
when we left Cuba. This order was rescinded by General Blanco 
a week before the declaration of war. Since then the sufferers 
must have been nearly exterm nated. Whatever food was left by 
Miss Clnra Barton for their sniiport was sei.ed l>y tlie Spaniards, 
and death has undoubtealy performed its work unchallenged. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 902 152 6* 



HoUinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 



